


Metal Gear Solid V: The Legend of Quiet

by Lysmata



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Action/Adventure, Budding Love, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Quiet's POV, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22594444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lysmata/pseuds/Lysmata
Summary: Her original mission was to take out the man known as Big Boss. Failure had made her disposable as she sought to take her revenge against the man who ruined her life. Never did she believe she would find a new life and a new beginning as she chased vengeance. Never did she believe her life could be better than it ever was before.
Relationships: Quiet/Venom Snake
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	1. Chasing Phantoms

**Author's Note:**

> After playing through MGSV: The Phantom Pain, I really wanted to further expand Quiet's story and how she evolved over time and this story is a result of it. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own MGSV: The Phantom Pain or any of the characters.

**Aabe Shifao Ruins**

She could still remember the days long past. She could still remember her final orders - the ones that had led to her fall from the ranks of the XOF elite soldiers and rendered her expendable in the eyes of her commanding officer, the man known as "Skull Face", whose face appeared in the nightmares of those who feared him. In those days, her fellow soldiers and her enemies equally feared and respected her. She was the ruthless, resourceful specialist who left no witnesses and who chilled the blood of her targets with a single icy glare.

The mission had been no more difficult than any other she had been assigned to. The hospital's security team had been laughably incompetent and she had no problems executing each one in quick succession. The nurse had died quickly and silently. By the time the doctor had fished out a tiny handgun from his pockets, she knew he was already dead. All that remained was her target and the other man in the next bed over, cowering in fear. Neither of them registered as a threat to her in such pitiful states.

And yet, against a handful of handpicked elite XOF strike teams, a thin, sickly man missing an arm and an eye who just woke from a nine year coma was able to survive XOF's best with the help of just one other person wrapped in bandages. _Lucky,_ she scowled to herself. _They were lucky and I was sloppy._

Her gloved hands tightened their grip around her modified RENOV-ICKX sniper rifle as the emotions and memories washed over her like a storm, every muscle in her body howling for revenge. In just one mission, she had lost her life, the only family she had ever known, and the cold, hard reputation she had carved out for herself with a long list of successful murders and assassinations, all in the name of XOF. Silently, she cursed the bandaged man for intervening. It was only because of him that the pitiful heap of skin and bones that was once the legendary soldier known as "Big Boss" had survived while she was engulfed in flames and left for dead.

To her, it was only fate that they had both survived, however, and she forced herself to calm and relax. Although the fire had burned fiercely at her, her lust for revenge had burned hotter. Having been given the experimental strain of parasites, she had been given two more chances to bring about the death of the man who had robbed her of her life. _Big Boss will die_ , she promised herself. _Whether it be by bullet or vocal cord parasite, he will suffer, he will break, and then he will die._

And yet, a glimmer of doubt remained in her mind. Skull Face had very clearly explained what would happen if she ever spoke English again. To speak English would mean certain death for Big Boss and all of his followers, but it would mean her death as well. She scowled again, making a small noise of frustration as she made sure her rifle was completely loaded. Despite seeking the revenge she lusted for, she could not bring herself to accept subjecting herself to the slow and torturous death given by the vocal cord parasite. But such thinking was unbecoming of an elite soldier like her, fallen as she was.

_No soldier ought to fear death_ , she told herself. _Orders are orders. I follow them to the letter. To disobey is to fail._ It had been her silent vow to herself in all her years of field work as a reminder of the disciplined, ruthless soldier she was. But now, for the first time, the words meant little to her, and that alarmed her.

With a sigh of frustration and exasperation, she fiddled again with her rifle, this time playing around with the scope as she considered the possibilities of what to say to activate the deadly parasites in her throat when the time came to exact her revenge on Big Boss. She had never been one for speaking and communication, opting instead to say as little as possible and preferring instead to just follow orders. Her mind had always been the safest place for her words.

Her musing turned to her name, Tixij, given to her by the Soviet troops as they whispered stories of her sniper rifle fire cutting through their ranks like butter before she disappeared from her sniping point without a trace. The name meant "Quiet" in English, which was almost too fitting for her current state. It seemed that with the loss of her language and the freak that she had become, her original name had been forgotten and lost to history, even to her. She felt a pang of regret at the fact, for her name had been the only thing she would truly ever own and Big Boss had taken that from her too.

Still, the satisfaction she would get from finally completing her mission and ridding the world of Big Boss would be a good enough start to easing that regret from her mind. _I was reborn in fire,_ she reminded herself, deep determination coursing through her. _Reborn as Quiet._

She glanced up at the sun, feeling its rays nourishing the parasites in her skin as she lounged around. The recent Soviet forces had been talking about a man with shrapnel embedded in his head riding a horse towards the ruins just an hour ago. Estimating it was just before noon, Quiet rose into a crouch as she watched the only road leading up to the ruins. The large, majestic gate that she had chosen as her sniping point offered a perfect view of the surrounding area, which allowed her to watch for any movement. She estimated her target would be arriving within the next hour and she allowed herself a small smile as she rested her rifle on her knee. _Big Boss won't know what hit him._

* * *

It was just a little past noon when Quiet spotted a lone figure riding up the sloped path to the entrance gateway of the ruins atop a white horse. Having been watching the road for over an hour, she already had her rifle trained on the entrance and she followed him as he continued to ride all the way to the gateway. He was clearly recognizable through the scope. No other man carried so much firepower on their person, and that was even before taking into account the trademark eyepatch and the shrapnel embedded in his head. There was no doubt in Quiet's mind that this was Big Boss.

_My name is Quiet and you robbed me of my life,_ she said in her mind as she brought her finger over the trigger. She could feel her muscles rushing with adrenaline in anticipation to the thought of watching the man who ruined her life topple off his horse with a hole between his eyes. It threatened to shake her concentration and she cursed to herself as her aim shook. Her finger brushed the trigger. Just a little further and she knew she would have a perfect shot on him.

Almost as if by some sixth sense, the Big Boss dismounted, leaving his horse by the side of the road. Quiet huffed in frustration. He had stopped just shy of where she wanted him. The man continued on foot further, seemingly aware that someone was watching him. Doubt flared in her mind as she realized his guard was up. She had assumed he would be an easy target, yet here he was walking between the crosshairs fully aware something was wrong.

Just as he lined up where she wanted him, he rushed forwards, taking her by surprise as he ducked in the cover of a line of tall stones. Her nerves got the better of her and she missed him as he darted to safety. Quiet cursed again in her mind as she realized she had missed her chance because her aim shook. _Next time won't be the same,_ she promised herself. She steadied her aim back to where she knew he was hiding, humming a song gently to herself to keep her aim from shaking.

The stones were more than enough to hide Big Boss and as he peeked over them to search for her location, she realized she had no choice but to open fire, lest he played the game patiently as he devised a path to flank her position. Quiet brought her finger back to the trigger, pulling it once and sending a bullet speeding towards him. He ducked at the last second and the bullet only met the rock he used as cover, glancing off harmlessly. She reached up and ejected the spent casing from her rifle, sliding the bolt back into place to load a new bullet into the chamber for the next time he peeked up.

This time, he peeked from the other side of the rock, throwing her aim off, and she wasted precious seconds readjusting to his new location. She fired again, immediately following through to load a new bullet as Big Boss evaded death once more, with this bullet doing nothing more but adding another chip in the rock. Although he had foiled her initial plan, she knew she still had a few tricks up her sleeve that he had never seen in his life, and she counted on them to confuse him enough for her to land a bullet on him.

From the side of the rock cover, she watched as he peeked in with binoculars and she immediately knew he had found her. She knew he was quickly determining an approach path to her location and that staying put would hold no tactical advantage for her. _Time to move._

With a mighty leap, Quiet jumped off the gateway, landing with a large impact on the ground. The long fall would have killed any normal person, but it only jarred her slightly, and she was grateful that the parasites in her skin offered her such useful abilities. She turned invisible as she took off running, hurdling and dodging obstacles as she made her way to a nearby ruin that she knew would offer her a better shot at Big Boss. With one final jump, she landed in a crouch at the corner of the building, pulling her sniper rifle from her back and aiming back at Big Boss.

He was still searching for her new position with binoculars and Quiet waited for him to peek out a little further before she fired to take advantage of her new position. Big Boss did just that, rushing out of cover before quickly diving to avoid her next shot as it whizzed harmlessly past him. She grunted in frustration, ejecting the spent cartridge and reloading the chamber of the rifle with another bullet. Big Boss was proving harder to kill than a snake, slipping out of her grasp each time.

She traced his path as he ducked and weaved around cover, circling around her new location. As he peeked out from behind his new cover with his binoculars, she fired another warning shot, sending stone shards flying from the pillar he hid behind but doing no damage to him. Her frustration from playing sneaking and hiding game threatened to overwhelm her, but she focused on humming the song as she played along. _Sooner or later, he'll slip and I'll make him pay._

Her patience paid off as he moved cover again and she fired off her fifth shot at him. She knew her shot had grazed him as he moved and although it was nowhere close to a critical shot, she had drawn blood and demoralized him. Big Boss would be even more hesitant to make a move on her position and that would only serve to increase his wariness of her.

Quickly, Quiet reloaded as she spotted a new location directly across from her and the cover where Big Boss had turtled under. She dropped off the building to the ground, rushing at full speed towards him. Gathering her legs underneath her, she leaped over his position, pulling a grenade from her belt and dropping it on him as she continued her run towards her new sniping point.

As she settled into her new position, the grenade went off and she spotted Big Boss barely escaping the blast radius. He was only winded and darted behind the cover of another pillar. She expected him to continue his game of hide and seek as he searched for her with his binoculars when suddenly, he peeked out from the far side of the pillar and opened fire on her with his assault rifle. It was a sloppy salvo of bullets that posed no threat to her, but it threw her aim off and she ducked for cover with a gasp of surprise.

_He can see me,_ she realized, and the thought brought a chill to her. She had been counting on her abilities to keep her hidden and send Big Boss reeling in surprise, but somehow he had devised a way to track her location, cloaked or not. Bringing her rifle to bear on him, she fired twice in quick succession, sending him ducking back into cover.

Big Boss peeked out again and, to her surprise, he had shouldered the assault rifle in favor of a tiny handgun. Had she not been focused on killing him, she would have allowed herself a small laugh at the absurdity of the situation. As if by magic, she felt something stinging at her neck as Big Boss ducked back into cover. She pulled something out of her neck, examining it to find that it was a dart of some kind. At the same time, her vision flickered slightly and she felt a small weakness in her body. Alarm and panic rose in her. _Tranquilizer dart,_ she realized, steadying herself. She could already feel the effects working into her system and she came to the conclusion that she was running out of time.

Her mind raced as she tried to figure out a new course of action. _Water._ The thought leapt into her mind. Water and sunlight nourished her parasites and she knew it would give her the stamina to ignore the effects of the tranquilizer for longer. Gathering her resolve, she opened fire again, emptying her magazine into the stone pillar that Big Boss hid behind before reloading, cloaking, and making her way to the nearby stream.

Quiet splashed down, uncloaking and allowing her parasites to drink their fill. Already, she felt energy starting to return to her body as the water rejuvenated her. Then, a familiar pop-whisper noise sent her stumbling off balance. Another tranquilizer dart embedded itself into her back, then another as she desperately tried to force her legs to make a leap to escape. She had no idea how Big Boss had managed to track her down and ambush her from behind and panic once again threatened to overcome her.

Just as Quiet's feet left the ground and she launched into the air, a third tranquilizer dart hit and she lost control of her jump, falling and tumbling to a hard stop in the middle of the ruins. Her muscles shut down on her and as her vision faded, her last thought was of failure.

* * *

Quiet awoke to the sound of a pistol's hammer being cocked into firing position. The memories of her fight with Big Boss instantly returned to her, but her eyes failed to open and her muscles failed to work as she pleaded her body to get up and fight. She could feel Big Boss standing over her body, pistol aimed at her head and ready to make her a corpse. The stories told of the legendary soldier feared around the world who showed no mercy on the battlefield, and she prepared herself for her death. It would be nothing more to the man who had already robbed her so much from her, and it seemed only fitting he would now rob her of her life too. Deep in her, she felt only regret and anger as she realized the man who had put her through so much suffering would go on living unpunished.

And yet, the end did not come and as she opened her eyes slightly, Big Boss slipped his gun back into his holster. The act of mercy from such a famed soldier filled her with fear and dread. He had no reason to spare her. She could not talk, so that left interrogation out of the question. She would not work with them and that left a converted allegiance out of the question. The only things that remained were torture, enslavement, and other heinous acts of war that would only result in her prolonged suffering.

The thoughts of them were almost enough to make her vomit in disgust and she made up her mind. Forcing her arm to move, she withdrew her pistol from the holster, bringing up up to her head and placing the barrel under her chin. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for the end to escape the suffering that awaited her after her capture.

Two strong hands grabbed her pistol just as she was about to fire and her eyes shot open. She glared at him, trying to draw upon the enhanced strength that the parasites gave her, but the tranquilizer that remained in her system left her weak and he was able to rip the gun away from her, pulling out the magazine and emptying the chamber before stuffing it into his belt. The exertion left her winded and her eyes drooped shut again as she reserved what remained of her strength for another try when he was distracted.

Quiet counted silently in her head to twenty before she heard the telltale clicking of what she assumed to be handcuffs. As she opened her eyes again, she saw her assumption was correct and she feebly tried to push him away to no avail. The handcuffs clicked around her wrists and the attempt left her lightheaded again. She cursed to herself. Although the handcuffs were a bother, she knew she could easily escape them when given the chance.

Vaguely, she felt hard, gloved hands sliding under her body and fear stabbed at her. She knew how the parasite forced her to wear as little as possible and she prepared herself for the worst. Disgust already ate away at her as she imagined all of the possibilities, lamenting at how low she had fallen from her days among the elite. She would be used and tossed aside, forgotten until the next time Big Boss or any of his other comrades would want to take advantage of her.

Big Boss grunted and she found herself gently lifted off the ground and settled onto his shoulders as she heard the noise of a helicopter approaching. Relief poured into her, followed by a tinge of doubt. Quiet had been vulnerable, and yet Big Boss had not only refused to kill her, but also refused to touch or take advantage inappropriately. The sounds of the helicopter grew louder and louder until she recognized that it had made its way to their location, hovering nearby.

Quiet grunted in discomfort as she was jostled on the shoulders of Big Boss before being unceremoniously tossed onto the deck of the helicopter. Her muscles still refused to work and Big Boss pulled himself into a sitting position beside her. She heard a zipping noise followed by a click, and she assumed he had strapped himself into the helicopter so he wouldn't fall.

As the helicopter gained altitude, he remained seated at the edge, legs hanging out, and an idea suddenly came to her mind. Her knife was near her hand and it wouldn't take much to quickly slice through the strap securing Big Boss to the helicopter and send him plummeting to his death.

Just as they reached the proper altitude, however, he quickly unstrapped himself, moving away from the door and closing it behind him, and Quiet realized the opportunity had been lost. She felt his presence over her and again, she wondered if he would finally do what she knew would inevitably come.

Two arms slid under her, one flesh and blood and the other cold and metallic. Both were gentle, however, as Big Boss lifted her off the ground and set her down gently onto a row of seats. She knew his eyes were glancing over her as he set her down, yet she never felt his gaze linger on anywhere in particular.

A worm of doubt made its way back into her mind. With the way he placed his hands and the restraint he showed with his eyes, it almost as if he seemed to be making a point of not making her uncomfortable or doing anything remotely inappropriate to her. The thought battled with her idea of the legendary Big Boss and only served to confuse her further. This wasn't the Big Boss she was briefed about.

He checked her handcuffs, making sure they were secured, before turning away from her and fumbling with some sort of fabric. Before she knew it, something heavy and suffocating was placed onto her, covering her up from the sun and air that her parasites desperately needed. Adrenaline flooded her system as she suffocated and at last, her eyes flew open and her muscles responded.

Big Boss had already turned away from her, moving towards the back of the helicopter, and she used the distraction to throw the suffocating fabric off her. The fabric, a jacket of some sort, landed on the floor and brought Big Boss' attention swinging back towards her. Quickly, she phased one hand out of her handcuffs, grabbing the jacket off the floor and throwing it at him, distracting him as she cloaked herself and yanked the door to the chopper open.

Quiet was faced with the choice of living to fight another day or returning to the enemy base to kill them all. Glancing back at Big Boss as he fumbled with the jacket, she remembered her anger at him. It had always served to harden her resolve and give her control over her emotions again, but this time it failed. She backed away from the door, sitting down on one of the seats and watching Big Boss as he threw the jacket off of him.

The man looked frantically around the chopper, searching for any sign of her and seemingly bewildered at how she had disappeared. Quiet watched as he stared out of the door, seemingly with a look of mild disappointment before he closed it and settled back into his seat. She herself sat watching him, wrestling with her own conflicted feelings. Her mission for the past months had always been to kill Big Boss but now, faced with a man who was nothing like what the reports had described, she had no idea what to do.

Big Boss closed his eyes, slouching slightly in his seat as he quickly dozed off. Quiet knew it would be easy to take any of the firearms laying around in the chopper and bring an end to the life of the person who brought her so much pain and suffering. But the more she thought about it, the more she was against it. Whether it was the moral compass she always kept hidden or simply a token of her appreciation, she couldn't find it in her heart to kill him now.

She sighed mentally, since physically sighing was no longer a possibility for her. Killing had never been a problem for her in the past, except for in her very early rookie days when killing would leave her so sick to her stomach at night that she couldn't sleep. And yet here she was, unable to complete her professional and personal mission to kill Big Boss even after the pain she had endured because of him.

She glanced at the pilot, but he seemed to be too preoccupied with flying to notice anything else. It would be a long flight, she knew. _Hopefully long enough to figure out this mess in my head._ Quiet sat back in her seat, relaxing as best she could and resigning herself to trying to think through her thoughts for the rest of the flight.


	2. Panic in the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected surprise forces Quiet's hand...

**Somewhere Over the Arabian Sea  
** **Unknown Distance from Mother Base** **  
**

Quiet jerked in her seat as an alarm blared from the cockpit, throwing her out of her thoughts. She glanced over at Big Boss, who had woken half an hour earlier but was similarly thrown off guard by the alarm. He swiftly made his way to the pilot in the cockpit, who seemed to go by the name "Pequod".

"Confirm, one bogey on our six, holding steady at point four miles," the pilot rattled off, looking intently at the radar before glancing at Big Boss. "It's tailing us." He flicked a couple of switches on the controls before responding to someone over his comm system. "Roger. We'll shake it off."

That being said, he yanked the control stick right, flying hard to starboard, and Quiet needed to grab hold of the nearby rails to keep from being sent tumbling backwards. Almost immediately, another alarm began blaring, and she recognized this one as a proximity alert. She could hear the incoming bogey, a fighter jet, approaching quickly, followed by the rattling of machine gun fire as it flew past, barely missing the cockpit.

Big Boss turned and went to the starboard window and she had to flatten herself against the wall to keep him from brushing against her. She knew that being discovered by him would bring an end to her infiltration attempt, though she still had not made up her mind as to whether or not to infect whatever base she landed in or to accept her capture as inevitable. Logically, she knew she should have decided long ago on the correct answer, but something was still fighting within her. Big Boss watched for a few more seconds before pulling open the door and Quiet's heart leapt into her throat. _He's not thinking of taking on a fighter jet in the middle of the ocean with small arms fire, is he?_

"Incoming!" Pequod yelled from the cockpit as she heard the resounding launch of a missile from the fighter jet outside. He flicked another switch and the chopper shook slightly as it ejected flares to draw the missile away from its original target. With a splash, the missile followed the flares and hit the ocean and the fighter jet roared above them as it shot past.

Quiet and Big Boss both watched as the fighter jet spun around, coming back around for another pass, and firing another missile. Once again, Pequod fired flares, but the missile did not stray from its path like the other one. Pequod cursed violently. "It's an LGM, hold on!" he warned as he began further evasive maneuvers, pushing the chopper as hard as he could. Quiet could tell that the missile would hit them, and she could also tell that the legendary soldier had reached the same conclusion at the same time as her.

Big Boss yanked the portside door open, bringing the chopper's side-mounted machine gun to bear with the flick of a switch. He was knocked off balance, though, as Pequod pushed the chopper to the brink of its capabilities, with the entire chopper shuddering in response. The famed soldier tried again to get back on his feet and grab hold of the gun as the missile closed in fast on the chopper, only to be sent backwards again. He tried one more time, grunting with exertion as he feebly reached for the gun, but the bucking from the chopper only served to knock him farther back.

_I'm going to die burning in the middle of the ocean if we get shot down._ The realization hit her suddenly and the thought gave her butterflies in her stomach. Cursing her rotten luck and hoping for the best, Quiet launched herself forward, grabbing the machine gun and decloaking as she opened fire on the incoming missile and fighter jet. The controls felt familiar to her and she remembered her experiences using such a weapon in the past. As her spray of bullets met the missile, it exploded just shy of the chopper and she let go of the triggers as the fighter jet flew by overhead.

It was only a temporary win, however, and she knew the pilot would be back for another pass. It occurred to her that the fighter jet was most likely sent by her own employer, Skull Face, possibly to end both Big Boss and his failure of an assassin. Quiet scoffed at the idea. _Getting blown up in the middle of the ocean means a fun, burning bath in saltwater. No thanks._

Quiet glanced over at Big Boss, who was staring at her with either awe, surprise, suspicion, or some mix between the three. He didn't let his mind dwindle on it, though, and he got back to his feet, pushing her aside gently and taking the controls of machine gun. She stepped back to give him room. _Not my kind of weapon anyways,_ she told him in her mind as she grabbed her customized sniper rifle from its place leaning at one corner of the chopper. To her surprise, it was still fully loaded. _All the better for the both of us. Not that I would have needed to load more than one bullet, though._

She took her place next to Big Boss, giving him a slight nod before turning her attention back towards the fighter jet turning around for another pass. Crouching down, she wound up the rifle strap around her left arm, making sure it wasn't dangling where it could be caught on anything, before checking the rifle. The scope had been shifted a little off and she took a quick few seconds to wiggle it back into place as Big Boss opened fire again with the machine gun.

Quiet forced the calm back into her system, blocking everything else out as she brought the rifle up. The pilot was performing evasive maneuvers to avoid the spray of bullets coming in his direction but Quiet knew the real threat was in her hands and not Big Boss'. She rose up higher, watching the fighter jet ducking and weaving through the air. _1…_ The rattling of machine gun fire continued. _2…_ The fighter jet continued to weave through the air gracefully. _3…_ The chopper continued to shudder from both the machine gun fire and Pequod's ace piloting, but all time seemed to stop and Quiet pulled the trigger.

Big Boss stopped firing and together, the three of them watched the fighter jet approaching. It was no longer performing intricate, evasive maneuvers and was instead starting to droop downwards towards the ocean. Quiet felt a spike of satisfaction as the fighter jet passed underneath, a single bullet hole clean through the glass of the cockpit, followed by a blood splatter throughout the entire inside. She glanced over at Big Boss and they shared a quick look, him of barely-hidden shock and her of casual confidence. They turned and watched as the fighter jet crashed into the water just off their starboard side, sinking quickly into the ocean waves and disappearing from sight.

_Quite honestly the most peaceful I've seen one crash,_ Quiet mused to herself, still rushing from the adrenaline of the skirmish. _No explosions, no flames. Just silence._ Big Boss turned to look at her with a look of grudging respect while she met his gaze with her own cold gaze, unwrapping the rifle strap from her arm and moving to the port side seats. Making sure to keep her finger away from the trigger, she reached down and gripped the bolt, emptying out the spent casing and the four other bullets from the magazine before her eyes flicked back to the legendary soldier, offering the rifle back to him. _You're_ welcome, she said in her mind sarcastically, dripping with venom and disgust. _You're lucky I needed to save you to save myself._ He glanced down at the rifle, running his eyes over it, before glancing back at the her wrists where the handcuffs dangled from them.

_Ugh, fine._ Quiet gave him a small glare before phasing her hand back into the cuffs, turning away from Big Boss and quite literally giving him the cold shoulder. She knew he was watching her carefully but she refused to look back at him, choosing instead to fume over her lost opportunity to infiltrate Big Boss' base undetected and doing her best to ignore the fact that she had just saved the man whose death had been her life goal for the past few months. She liked to believe that she was just saving her own skin, but a certain voice in her head and in her heart told her it was something more, and that disgusted her. The voice was supposed to be dead and driven out long ago by years of unforgiving training and conditioning.

Quiet clenched a gloved hand into a fist. _You're kidding yourself,_ she sneered in her mind. _There is no voice. There is only Quiet, the unemotional assassin, and nothing more._ She called upon her training, forcing her emotions out of her mind. They still remained at the edge of her thoughts, but it relieved her that she no longer had to think on them. Mind cleared at last, she crossed one leg casually as she sat back in the seat, avoiding Big Boss' eyes and waiting for them to arrive at their destination.

* * *

**Mother Base, Seychelles Waters**   
**Command Platform**

Quiet looked up as Pequod flicked a series of switches on the upper control board. Through the cockpit window, she could see several oil rig platforms but it was only after a little more flying that it all came together and she realized each one was connected by long bridges to form a single, sprawling base. The size of it took her by surprise, but she made sure to keep her expression hidden from Big Boss. It wouldn't do her any good if he started to sense how powerless she felt when faced with the size of his operation. She leaned forward, taking in the sight. _My god, what have I gotten myself into,_ she mused to herself. Although she had come in with a plan, the size of the base threw her off guard and she suddenly had doubts about how exactly she would take on an entire base swarming with soldiers on her own.

She turned her glance back to Big Boss for the first time, fighting to keep her worried thoughts from showing up in her expression. His eye met hers for a second, before he turned his attention out the starboard door as the sounds of another chopper began to overlap theirs. She followed his gaze, watching as a chopper pulled up alongside theirs. By his slightly concerned expression, she derived the feeling that such an escort was not a common occurrence. He glanced out the portside door, as the sounds of another chopper approached.

_They wouldn't shoot their own boss out of the sky, would they?_ The question slightly amused and concerned her, though she had no idea whether or not to consider it seriously. As Quiet pondered the question, Big Boss turned back to the chopper on their starboard. He leaned forwards, then stopped in surprise. Quiet saw a flash of red light, before realizing at the same time as he did that it was a laser sight. With a start of surprise, she realized his own troops were training their weapons on him. Suddenly, she had sudden doubts about whether she would even be allowed to set foot on the base. _Wonderful. We're still over an ocean._

She leaned forwards, glancing out the portside door, only to be confronted by the other chopper and a gunner aiming a side-mounted minigun. _It appears I've picked the wrong side to look,_ she thought without humor as she studied the chopper intently. If she had to guess, the chopper seemed vulnerable at the rotors. _A few sniper rounds to that should cause enough damage,_ she thought. Her finger almost itched to pull the trigger on her rifle to test her theory. _Haven't downed a chopper in a while,_ she mused thoughtfully.

Quiet felt a presence on her left and an arm suddenly shot out in front of her. Her training reflexes recognized the movement as a threat and she instantly tensed up, ready for action. She glanced at Big Boss quickly as he pulled up in front of her, motioning for her to move back. He placed his body in front of her, cutting her off from the aim of the gunner. _Is he...protecting me?_ Something in her heart twinged, something she hadn't felt for a long time. She kept a scowl on her face, trying hard to push away whatever she was feeling. Her alertness level stayed high, although she did allow herself to relax slightly. _I don't need your protection, murderer._

They flew by several platforms full of troops, all dressed in the same uniform and aiming their weapons at the chopper. There were more than Quiet had initially anticipated and she knew there were too many for her to take out all at once. The chopper finally slowed to hover over the main landing platform, where another squad of soldiers stood staring up at them the chopper. This squad was dressed differently and Quiet assumed it was some sort of elite squad. Two other men stood with them, on of them seemingly dressed as a Western gunslinger and the other wearing a trenchcoat with a cane.

"No way she is setting foot on this base," she heard the trenchcoat man announce. As Big Boss continued to watch down below, Quiet moved back and sat down. There was no sense in getting involved and she was very interested to see the dynamic between Big Boss and a crippled man who seemed to be in charge of everything - even Big Boss himself. _I wonder who's really in command here,_ she thought as Big Boss turned to her.

"Boss, she's with Cipher!" At that, Quiet looked back up to meet the legendary soldier's eyes. Once upon a time, the name meant something to her and she had felt pride at being a part of it. For the first time in her life, though, she wondered if she was still a part of the elite task force or if she was solely doing this for her own revenge. It was a chilling thought and she pushed it out of her mind, though it continued to bug her in the background.

Big Boss gave a small sigh, moving back to take his place at his usual seat in the back of the chopper. It seemed to Quiet that he was willing to wait out the standstill. If they're not going to let me down, _I'll go to them,_ she decided as she stood up and walked over to the door. _Nobody wants to play their cards? Fine. I'll play first._ She gave one glance back to Big Boss before she simply walked off the chopper, plummeting downwards. _I'll see you down there._

Quiet sensed rather than saw Big Boss start forwards, as if worried about her falling to her death. The fall was exhilarating as the wind rushed past her, but she felt no fear. She had learned long ago that her abilities allowed her to survive grisly injuries and she knew a little hard landing would barely shake her. She allowed herself to cloak, leaving the soldiers below to gape in disbelief as their target vanished into thin air.

With a heavy thud that shook the platform slightly, she landed in a crouch, decloaking and casually phasing out of the handcuffs. The fear in the eyes of the soldiers was incredibly clear and she basked in the feeling of being feared and respected again. She studied each and every one of them, making eye contact as they regained enough sense to approach her with weapons drawn. Their fear as they gripped their weapons tightly, aim wavering, fed her ego and confidence and she cloaked again, leaving them almost in a panic as they thought of the possibility of facing an invisible foe.

The man dressed as a cowboy stepped forward quickly, searching for her, and she almost snickered at how clueless he was. "Thermals," he called out, and the feeling was suddenly wiped away. _Blast, he's good…_ Three soldiers broke off from the group, flipping thermal lenses down over their eyes before closing in on her position. Quiet glanced around, dread slowly filling her. _They can see me._ There was nowhere to run as they surrounded her before bringing their weapons to bear simultaneously. Grudgingly, she admitted her defeat and uncloaked. _So much for that idea._

The rest of the soldiers quickly moved in to surround her, weapons trained. "Seize her," the cowboy commanded. Her throat itched and she knew this was the perfect chance to speak and infect each and every one of them. And yet, she couldn't. _What if they all don't share English as their common language?_ The possibility burst into her mind and she eagerly took it, accepting and believing it to be the reason for her hesitation. She refused to believe it could be anything else.

"Fire," the crippled man commanded as he approached. Quiet focused her gaze at the cowboy. He seemed to be the more reasoning one and she doubted he would allow the crippled man to give the orders. One of the soldiers clicked the safety off his rifle and her assuption was proven correct when the cowboy pushed the rifle down, shooting a scowl to the crippled man. "Miller!"

_So that's his name,_ Quiet thought as she labeled the crippled man with the name. She had no idea if it was a first name or surname, but it had no difference to her. It was just something to distinguish him by.

"She saved The Boss," the cowboy continued as Miller continued to limp closer.

"She was saving herself," Miller shot back as he bumped a soldier's aim back up to her. "Fire!"

"Put her in the cell," Big Boss said from the other side as he approached. She turned her gaze to him as he stepped into the circle, pushing down rifles and motioning to the rest of the soldiers to lower their aim. Miller tried to interject but Big Boss ignored him entirely, focusing instead on the cowboy. "Keep an eye on her."

The cowboy shot another look at Miller. "Right," he agreed, almost smugly as if he were a teenager who had just won a shouting match. "Take her away."

The soldiers motioned for her to move but she met each of their gazes carefully. Quiet knew how piercing her green eyes could be and she did everything in her ability to make each and every one of them completely uncomfortable and unsure of themselves.

"What are you waiting for?" the cowboy growled, motioning for her to turn around. "Move!"

_You don't scare me,_ she shot back in her head and she turned her gaze to him. _I don't take orders from you._ He met her look with equal intensity, refusing to back down. A gloved hand fell on her left shoulder and she knew it was Big Boss. Reluctantly, she backed down, glancing at him for a long moment. She couldn't believe she was allowing herself to be bossed around but she accepted that with drawn guns and the attention focused solely on her, she had no chance of fighting her way out of custody.

_I guess I'm your prisoner. For now._ She turned and started walking slowly, accepting her fate. _I'll cooperate for now but the moment I see an opening…each and every one of you dies a horrible death._ With a mental sigh, she continued walking, making sure she made no sudden movements. Something told her it would be a long walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! I know the cutscenes don't show much else other than the actions that are being displayed, so I wanted to add more thought and effort into them so that Quiet's personality and thinking could be fleshed out a bit more. Otherwise it's just like watching the cutscenes all over again in a text format and I figure if you wanted to do that, you would be watching the cutscenes instead of being on here and reading this. :)
> 
> Next comes my first real challenge in writing this...I need to write parts that aren't shown in the game. It's one thing to add more depth to things already shown. It's something else altogether to write something completely new with nothing to base it off of. I already has some ideas, so hopefully I can flesh it out well.


	3. Home Sweet Brig?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quiet finds herself in a new home...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Here I am again, bringing you another chapter of Quiet's story. This one took a little bit more thinking on my part, especially since it's something that wasn't covered much in the game itself. I also wanted to keep it a little different from some of the other similar fanfics I have read (after all, it's not too fun to seemingly be reading the same fanfic over and over, but just under a different title). There's not too much in terms of excitement in this one, but it definitely digs deeper into Quiet's thinking. Enough with my notes, though. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own MGSV: The Phantom Pain or any of the characters.

**Mother Base, Seychelles Waters**   
**Medical Platform**

"Hey!" Quiet ignored the voice, not budging from her position lying on her stomach on the semi-comfortable bed. "Hey, you freak!" Quiet still didn't respond to the voices coming from above. The two Diamond Dog soldiers had been at it for the past two days since she had arrived at the base. She figured they would go through their patrols around the platform, taking breaks throughout the day to amuse themselves by taunting her. They were barely adults, she guessed, and their immaturity clearly showed. She didn't let it get the best of her, however, and forced herself to stay unemotional to even the worst insults. _Wouldn't be much of an elite soldier if I let a kid who hasn't even finished puberty pulls a reaction from me._

The two soldiers continued their attempts for a few more minutes before she heard them walking away. Finally left alone, Quiet allowed herself to relax. Now that they had left, there was nothing to fill the air except the sounds of the ocean and the bustling sounds of construction and movement from a distance. She almost missed having their voices around to fill her time. With a mental sigh, she got up off the bed, moving around the cell they had put her into. Though she doubted she had missed any part of it the last time she had made her rounds through the cell, there was nothing else to do.

The cell was about the size of a small room, with a good amount of space for her to move around, though there wasn't much she could do with the space. In fact, there were only three things in the cell. She spent the majority of her time in the bed, resting and relaxing. The shower she was grateful for, since it let her have all the water she would ever need for the ever-thirsty parasites in her skin. She couldn't imagine taking an actual shower, however, and she shuddered at the thought. _There's no way forty men get to see me trapped in a cell showering naked like some sort of slave._ The last thing in the cell was a toilet, and she had absolutely no idea whose bright idea it was to put a toilet in a cell with no privacy or barriers at all. _Lucky for me, I don't produce any waste._

Having finished her rounds, Quiet briefly considered going back to the bed before discarding the thought. _Spent enough time laying already. I'm going to die of boredom soon._ She approached the door to the cell, looking down at the lock. The lock was a pitiful little thing, and she was pretty sure that its only useful purpose was as a decoration. _I'd only need one hand to rip it apart,_ she thought as she poked it with a finger.

For a second, she entertained thoughts of escaping and terrorizing the soldiers on the base. She was pretty sure Big Boss had left on a mission after hearing a chopper departing. That only left a little over two dozen soldiers on the platform. She had counted several more platforms in the distance as she was walked to the cell, and she knew none of them would be expecting an attack from within the base. _It would be like taking candy from a baby,_ she thought. She glanced back to the lock in her hand. It would only take a single, tiny tug, and then she would be able to have the entire platform overtaken in less than twenty minutes.

And yet, something stopped her and she sighed mentally, moving back to the bed and laying down again. Quiet had lost count of the number of times she had imagined herself breaking loose and completing her mission. _None of the soldiers would see it coming, and Big Boss would return only to find his soldiers slaughtered, either by vocal cord parasite…or by me._ The thought had remained in her mind and yet, she still had not put the plan into effect.

_It's because he's not here,_ Quiet decided firmly. _Since he's not here, I don't know when to break loose, so I need to wait until he arrives before I can kill him._ She knew the logic made no sense, but she forced herself to believe it anyways. _There can't be any other explanation. That's it._ With that, she closed her eyes and started to drift off to sleep. Sleep didn't come often to soldiers, and while she was bored and tired of sleeping, she knew it might be at any time that she needed to go without sleep again. _I can take down the base another day,_ she thought sleepily. _Starting with those two silly soldiers..._

* * *

Quiet woke quickly but didn't dare make a move as boots clanked on the stairs leading down to her cell. It was still sunny outside, but the multiple noises of footfalls told her that this wasn't just another guard trying to get her to eat food. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a red scarf and knew it was the cowboy. She raised her head, watching him as he came to the door of the cell, flanked by the two soldiers who had been harassing her.

"I know you seem to have certain...abilities that make you special," the cowboy began, watching her. Quiet sat up in bed, wary. They were all men and all armed, and she didn't know what to expect from them. "We would like to run you through some basic medical exams, just to make sure you're healthy." She narrowed her eyes at that. _Do these medical exams include a guarantee against unnecessary probing and a consent form I can sign?_

"I'll personally make sure the medical team doesn't force you to do anything you don't want to," the cowboy said, and Quiet had to hide her surprise at that. Suddenly, the cowboy seemed a lot more welcoming than anyone else on the base. "You might be in a cell, but you are not a slave," he continued. "You will not be treated unfairly here."

At that, Quiet glanced at the two guards. They seemed to be a little bashful, and she wondered if the cowboy had anything to do with it. His next words confirmed her suspicions. "They've been placed on deck scrubbing duty," he said, having followed her gaze. "I've assigned a guard rotation to your cell. They're all trusted officers and you won't be bothered anymore."

Quiet gave a small appreciative nod, once again surprised by his sense of justice and care for her. The cowboy chuckled and she gave him a slightly quizzical look. "You don't talk much, do you?" he said as he unlocked the door, stepping back to open the path to her. She rose from the bed slowly, making sure not to make any unexpected movements as she slipped her boots on and came to the door and followed the cowboy's lead up the stairs.

Little seemed to have changed in the base in the last two days, which wasn't surprising to her. Construction had continued and the base did seem a little more completed than before. It was only a short walk to a gray building, where two more Diamond Dogs stood guarding the entrance. They both saluted as the cowboy approached, acknowledging them with a small nod.

"The doctor should already be waiting for you," the cowboy said, standing aside to give Quiet access to the door. "Don't go causing any trouble, now." The cowboy's warning seemed almost joking, but Quiet sensed the hidden threat behind it. She knew the whole base had been alerted that she was on the move and were standing by in case she made a move. _Not that I intend to._ She glanced back at the two guards who had followed them, shooting a questioning look to the cowboy. _Do they need to come along too?_

"They'll be following you for security purposes," the cowboy explained. "They shouldn't cause you too much trouble anymore." Quiet nodded, satisfied with the answer, before turning back to the door and walking in. _Time to get my checkup._

* * *

Quiet sat patiently on a clean medical cot as the doctor scribbled some things into a notebook. The room was small but comfortable, unlike the cell she had been thrown into. She appreciated the lighting and the light-grey colored paint on the walls seemed to make the room inviting. _Much better than my dungeon of a room,_ she mused. She cleared her throat gently, shifting her weight to a more comfortable position as she waited for the doctor to finish.

"Sorry, I'm almost done," the doctor said with a small smile. She was a young blonde woman dressed in the typical drab Diamond Dog fatigues, but something about her seemed to contrast with the typical boringness of the uniform. Quiet decided it was the woman's personality. She seemed to have a constantly joyful approach to everything in life, whether it was patrolling or handling her duties as a medical officer. Quiet had already lost count of the times the woman had smiled comfortingly at her throughout the last hour they had spent together. All she knew was that it was more than the zero smiles she had gotten in the past three days on the base.

Unlike the other Diamond Dogs on the Medical Platform, the woman had been the first to treat her like a human. _Third,_ Quiet corrected herself. _First Big Boss, then the cowboy, and now her._ When Quiet had first met her, the doctor had given a beaming smile and a firm handshake before introducing herself as Golden Badger. The name almost seemed to fit perfectly with the woman's golden personality, and it made Quiet wonder if that's how the code names were given in the first place.

"I can't say I've ever gone through a medical checkup for someone like you," Golden Badger commented, a small frown creasing her face as she pondered something on the sheet. After a few more seconds, she scratched something out before putting it down on a nearby table, smiling at Quiet. "Most of those didn't apply to someone with your…abilities. I just put 'not applicable' for most of them." She gave an annoyed face at the questions she had to fill out. "Anyways, I got everything I needed."

Quiet couldn't help but give a small smile back before she dropped it again. _She's the enemy!_ She scowled mentally, trying to fight the cheerfulness that was rising up in her. If the Badger noticed the sniper's inner turmoil, she didn't show it.

"I hope you enjoyed your visit," the doctor said, smiling. "Congratulations! You're in perfect health. Better than perfect, even." Quiet gave a slight nod, not trusting herself to respond. _Assassins don't smile,_ she told herself firmly.

"I'm sorry about your condition, though," Badger continued. "I know the boys on the base can be...well, boys. Maybe we could have R&D get some kind of breathable combat uniform for you."

Quiet's attention snapped back up to the doctor in surprise. _What?_ Her mind raced, both in anxiety and shock. _Combat? You don't believe I'm actually going to work for a band of mercenaries, do you?_

Badger's expression turned to one of slight concern. "Tactical Instructor Ocelot didn't tell you? This wasn't just a medical exam. This was a physical too. To ensure you were fit for duty." Quiet weighed her situation quickly. If it were between the cell and being out in the field, she definitely would rather being out in the field.

"You would probably be working with The Boss, too." That got Quiet's attention. Suddenly, it didn't seem too bad of an idea, and she jumped on the chance. _Working side-by-side with the legend himself? Certainly ups my chances of finding a chance to kill him. Deal._ She smiled slightly and nodded, imagining Big Boss facedown on a sandy slope with a bullet to the back of his head.

The doctor smiled back, clearly unaware of what Quiet was thinking. _Not that she needs to know._ "Ocelot is waiting for you at the shooting range in the back," she said, opening the door. "You'll have a two-guard escort, the same one you walked in with." Quiet gave a slight frown at that, though she brushed it off. _If they don't bother me, there won't be any problems._

They walked out together into the waiting area, where the guards stood back up, grabbing their weapons. Quiet turned back one more time to the doctor, giving a simple nod of gratitude. She felt her heart warm slightly when the doctor smiled and gave a slight nod back, though she did her best to fight the feelings.

Suddenly, Quiet felt something warm and suffocating press over her shoulders and back. One of the young guards who had harassed her was busy trying to fit some sort of jacket over her. She heard Badger starting to warn the soldier, but Quiet lost her patience quickly and it was too late.

Quiet grabbed an arm, yanking the soldier over her shoulder and crashing into the nearby wall with a heavy thud. The other soldier yelped in surprise, bringing his weapon to bear. She grabbed the rifle, knocking it out of his hands, before sending him crashing down on top of his friend. The entire sequence lasted less than five seconds, ending with a moan pile of bodies and a slightly amused doctor. _Try touching me again_ , she dared them. _Got what you knuckleheads deserved._

"I guess that's what they get for trying to dress you," Badger commented, looking down at the two winded soldiers. "I'm sure Ocelot wouldn't mind you going with one of the door guards." Quiet nodded, sending an apologetic glance. _Sorry about the mess, Badger._ The doctor waved it away. "Their fault, not yours. Go on."

Quiet nodded once more, turning and walking towards the door. She could hear one of the soldiers whining something along the lines of, "She hit me for no reason!", followed by Badger's response of, "Well that's why you wait for directions first!" _At least they're already in the medical facility,_ Quiet thought. _No need to drag their pitiful selves along the deck to get treatment._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that. Next up, we'll start to see a little deepening of the plot and hopefully a little more action than this chapter provided. As always, feel free to review. Thank you all for your support in this!


	4. Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New surroundings bring conflicted feelings...and a friend?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I'm back again with another chapter! Thanks for waiting patiently. I had a lot of fun writing this part, which came easier to me than the last chapter I wrote. Hopefully it seems a little more natural-flowing too!

**Mother Base, Seychelles Waters  
** **Medical Platform**

Quiet woke feeling completely refreshed. She stretched on her bed, catching some sunlight on her skin for the parasites. With a small mental smile, she stood up and stretched more. The cell seemed much more pleasing and glowy today, compared to how it had been in the past when soldiers would shout insults at her. It had been only three days since the cowboy, Ocelot, had placed a rotating guard shift at the entrance of her cell to make sure nobody would bother her. In that three day span, she had gotten the best rest she had been able to get for a long time. Though she knew she was still a prisoner, she could almost see herself getting used to her new life. _Almost._

She didn't let the thought of being a prisoner sour her mood, though, and she happily headed over to the small shower, turning on the water and letting it wash over her. The cool droplets didn't bother her at all and only served to heighten her joyful mood as she allowed her parasites to drink their fill. After a few more seconds of drinking, she turned the water off, shaking off some of the excess. The water at her feet slowly drained down through the floor and she splashed around in it playfully, trying to make as large a splash as possible. It had become a game for her over the past few days, since there wasn't much else she could do in the cell.

The water eventually drained away completely and she glanced at the shower longingly, tempted to turn it on again to give herself another puddle to play with. She decided against it, however, as she heard movement from the stairwell leading down into her cell. _Wouldn't do to have someone see me playing around in water,_ she told herself. _After all, what kind of elite soldier plays around in puddles in her free time?_ She instead contented herself on waiting to see who showed up. She almost hoped it was the doctor, Golden Badger, who had treated her with such surprising kindness since she had arrived on the base.

Ocelot came down the stairs, flanked by two of his personal guards. Quiet watched him curiously as he came over to the door of the cell. Gone was the fear of being assaulted or abused, replaced instead by curiosity and a little excitement whenever someone came down into her cell to visit. She didn't mind the visits. _Definitely beats playing around in puddles all day,_ she mused as she came over the door to watch the cowboy. _What's up?_

"You performed pretty well in my combat assessment of you," Ocelot said, hands clasped behind his back as he paced thoughtfully. "You have physical abilities beyond what any regular human has. You don't eat or drink like a human would. You don't produce any waste. You don't even breathe." He met her eyes and she could see his grudging respect for her. "You're a sniper and a scout that can move without detected, can make any of the shots in the book and more, and won't leave any traces behind. You make a fine soldier, and I'll be damned if you're going to sit here and rot in this cell all day."

Quiet felt a small trill of excitement within her. Suddenly, the idea of getting out of the cell and into the field seemed all the more a possibility. _It'd be nice to stretch my legs out there,_ she thought. Something ached in the back of her mind and she knew she was forgetting something, though she had no idea what it was. She knew it was something important that she knew she was supposed to remember, but it escaped her, so she contented herself with listening to what else the cowboy had to say.

"Of course, it'll be hard for Miller to agree," the cowboy mused thoughtfully, seeming to be frustrated by his comrade. "He's too bent on revenge to think clearly. He'd instantly shoot down any thought of you getting out of this cell. He doesn't know about your tests." Ocelot shook his head, sighing. "No, he wouldn't allow it. Especially since you'd be working with the Boss."

With a start, it all flooded back to Quiet, so suddenly that she had to physically take a step back away from the cell wall. _Kill Big Boss._ Again, the image of her bullet in the back of Big Boss' head as he bled out on a sand dune rose up into her mind. She clenched her fists, anger rising up in her at how placid she had become in her captivity. _I'm an elite assassin,_ she growled to herself. _I'm Quiet and I'm going to kill Big Boss. I'm not here to enjoy confinement and puddles. I've forgotten who I am._

If the cowboy noticed her change in demeanor, he didn't acknowledge it. "I guess we'll have to see how things play out," he said. "I'll let you know if anything changes, but for now the plan is on the shelf." He nodded to himself. "At least we have a plan." Ocelot looked up as the noise of an incoming chopper in the distance became audible. "Sounds like he's back." He inclined his head to Quiet, heading for the stairway to the cell. "I'll see you later, then."

Quiet waited until he and his guards were gone before she slammed her fist in anger against one of the bars of her cell, bending it slightly. She stalked around the cell, fists clenched, wanting desperately to punch something. _I can't believe I let those…animals...trick me into believing I'm fine here._ The noise of a chopper was growing ever louder and she instinctively knew it was Big Boss.

_I can escape now, and I can kill him._ The joke of a lock hung from the door, almost teasingly rocking back and forth as if it were asking her to break it. Quiet went over to it, gripping it in her hands. It was small and flimsy and she knew she would have no trouble ripping it apart, just as she would have no trouble ripping the limbs of Big Boss from his body. And yet she still could not. With a noise of frustration, she released the lock and gripped the door instead, shaking angrily and partially crushing the metal bars in her fists.

_WHY?_ She shouted at herself angrily, clenching her eyes shut and resting her head on the bars. _WHY CAN'T I KILL HIM?_ And yet, she knew it was only a rhetorical question. She already knew the answer. She already knew she had known the answer for a long time. And still, she refused to accept it. _There has to be another reason,_ she near-begged herself. _It's just not possible. He has to die…he can't live...he has to die…he can't live….HE CAN'T LIVE._

"I'm sorry we don't have somewhere better for you to stay."

The voice cut through her thoughts and Quiet snapped around, glaring, fists clenched, and wanting nothing more than to rip apart the owner of the gruff voice that spoke from behind her. Mentally, she cursed her own foolishness in contemplating her feelings in the brig of an enemy base, completely forgetting she was completely exposed and out in the open to anyone who wanted to watch her. But as she realized who the speaker was, her eyes widened slightly, her body froze, and her heart stopped. _No way._

Big Boss was splattered with blood, sporting countless rips throughout his clothing, and covered with nicks and bruises. And yet, he stood, in the flesh, in her "home". "Usually I would visit the brig a little more often," he continued, as she felt him study her cell. He waved his hand dismissively. "I've been out on a mission for a little while."

With a start, Quiet realized she had been staring and quickly rearranged her composure. He seemed to watching her, studying and picking apart her behavior. She could almost swear he was peering right into her mind. A cold chill ran up her back and she suddenly knew what it felt like when she used her own piercing green eyes. He was a dangerous man, even with one eye, and she could feel it in her bones. _No wonder he's a legendary soldier. He could rip you apart..._

"I hope you've been comfortable here," Big Boss said, seemingly satisfied with what he saw. "Let me know if you need anything." He turned to leave, hesitated, then turned back to her, pulling out a satchel from behind him and placing it within reach on the floor at the corner of the cell. "Saw what you had when you came in. Figured I'd give them back. I saw the other ones out in the field. Thought you'd like them." With that, he left, leaving no other explanation and only the sounds of his retreating boots going off into the distance.

Quiet stood still, dumbfounded. Although she had just been in a murderous rage, she no longer knew what to think. _Everything he does is a mystery,_ she thought, still trying to make up her mind about who or what Big Boss was. _A legendary soldier who even cares for his prisoners._ Quiet sighed mentally, pushing the thoughts aside. It was growing too tiring and confusing to come up with a solid conclusion and opinion about the legend. Instead, she focused on her curiosity for the contents in the satchel he had left behind.

She approached it curiously, kneeling down and pulling the small bag into the cell. She could hear plastic inside and when she opened it up and emptied the contents on to the floor, she was surprised to find a handful of cassette tapes. _Tapes?_ She picked one up, reading the label. _'Maneater' by Hall and Oates._ She picked up another one, recognizing the handwriting as her own. _My music,_ she realized, and she was filled inside with warmth and joy as she realized the soldier had given her back her collection of music.

Quickly, she sorted them out, separating out her music from the new ones Big Boss had found in the field. Altogether, there were two new tapes, and Quiet felt an excitement that had been missing from her life. _Music!_ Her mood fell slightly, however, as she looked around and realized there was nothing to play the music on. Nonetheless, she was still excited to have possessions returned to her and it brought a rare small smile out from her.

Carefully, she stashed them underneath her bed, where they wouldn't get wet when she showered. She treasured her music collection, since it had been one of the only things in her possession that she had kept with her. _Not to mention the fact that I love music,_ she thought to herself. While she didn't know when she would be able to listen to her new tapes, she could already tell it would be enjoyable.

Inevitably, her thoughts returned to Big Boss. _Do I thank him?_ Quiet frowned, pondering the question. _Just minutes ago, I wanted to rip his limbs off. Now I want to thank him?_ She sighed mentally in exasperation, still trying to figure out how to proceed. _I'm supposed to kill him. He ruined my life, so I'm going to ruin his._ The thought didn't sit as well as it used to, though, and for the first time she accepted that she might not want to kill the soldier after all.

_My orders were to kill Big Boss._ _But I am no longer a soldier following the orders of Skull Face. My vendetta is personal. Does that mean the orders no longer apply to me?_ Quiet frowned to herself. _Or perhaps my motivation was strictly revenge from the beginning._ She thought again about the cassettes he had given her. _All this time, I was led to believe Big Boss was a gruesome soldier with legendary abilities and a ruthless demeanor._ She glanced back to the stairwell, as if he would appear again at any minute. _But now...I don't know what to believe anymore. I don't know who he is._

Quiet closed her eyes, quieting her thoughts and composing herself again. When she opened her eyes again, she nodded to herself, coming to a conclusion. _Big Boss is not who I thought he was, but I do not know who he is._ She felt a spike of satisfaction at the thought and she agreed with it wholeheartedly. _I will judge him on who he is and not who he was or who I was told he was. And if he is still deserving of death, then so be it._ Quiet nodded again to herself, content with her reasoning. For the first time in a long time, she felt at peace with herself, and the feeling comforted her.

* * *

Quiet looked up towards the stairwell as she heard the sounds of boots descending. A Diamond Dog soldier came down, assault rifle slung over one shoulder and carrying a boombox. He stop at the bottom of the stairs, looking at Quiet and offering her a small wave. She acknowledged him with a small nod carefully, watching him closely. Usually only select personnel were allowed to be in the brig with her, and she had never seen this particular soldier before. _I wonder if my guard is still around up there._

"The Boss was asking around for a cassette player and a pair of speakers yesterday," the soldier said, continuing over to the door to her cell, still carrying the boombox. "I don't usually get a chance to use it at my bunk so I figured you'd have more use for it." He set it down at the doorway, digging into a pocket supposedly for the key to the cell.

Quiet stood up, unsure of whether to move over to the door or to stay at the bed. She had no idea if he would consider her a threat if she approached or stood close to the door, so she stayed put by her bed. _No sense in making him uncomfortable,_ she decided.

The soldier finally found the right key, then looked up at her. "You can have it on one condition and one condition only," he told her. She cocked her head, curious. "You can't ever play classical." The soldier chuckled to himself and Quiet almost laughed, nodding her head in agreement. He opened the door, sliding the boombox in before closing the door again, locking the small lock. "Sorry," he said, almost apologetically. "Wish I could be in there with you to play around with it, but rules are rules. I need to get back to my post up there."

She waved his apology aside. _No worries,_ she told him in her head as she went over to the boombox to bring it back to her bed. She was already excited to put one of the new cassettes in to find out what it sounded like as she peeked under her bed to pull out her collection.

"I'm Stone Hedgehog, by the way," the soldier said, sliding the rifle off his shoulder and back into his hands. "I'm your guard."

Quiet glanced at him again, favoring him with a small smile and a nod. _Thanks for keeping the idiots off my roof, Stone._ The guard nodded back, turning and going back up the stairs and Quiet felt a small bit of warmth in her. _First free music, now a free boombox._ _It's like this base is overflowing with generosity._ She popped the first cassette tape into the boombox, titled "Maneater", and hit play. _Not that I mind,_ she thought contentedly as she sat back to listen to the song. _Oooh this sounds like a good one!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter finished! Hope you enjoyed the read.


	5. A Quiet Audition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before she can make it into the field, Quiet finds herself waiting for her audition...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Next chapter incoming. Thanks for waiting. This one was a little more vanilla, but at least we got another firearm in Quiet's hands so she can work her magic. Next one should be a mission! Just a little something to look forward to. ;)

**Mother Base, Seychelles Waters**   
**Medical Platform**

"The Boss is coming."

With that said, Quiet thrummed with silent anticipation. She laid her head back down on her arms, trying to stop the anxiety from rising up inside of her. _This is my chance,_ she thought, and the idea of fighting alongside such a legendary soldier became all the more a reality in her mind. _Finally my time to see who or what Big Boss really is._ Her days of mindlessly following aged orders would be done and for the first time in a long time, she would be able to think for herself to make her own opinion. The thought excited her and she hid it as best she could, since she knew Ocelot would be watching her closely.

She could hear muffled greetings coming from the stairwell, then hard combat boots clanking on the metal stairs and she instinctively knew it was the legendary soldier. She could practically sense his presence. Something about him gave off a veteran, experienced feel and she had always felt most comfortable working with such people. _Usually the kind of people I can trust with my life._ Still, she shrugged mentally. _At least, back in XOF._

Big Boss moved to stand next to the cowboy and Quiet pushed herself up off her bed, setting her feet on the floor and slowly walking to the cage door to watch the soldier intently. As always, his gaze seemed to slice through her, sending chills down her back. She briefly wondered if he could recognize her from when she had attempted to assassinate him several months prior, though she doubted his memory could be anything but fuzzy after waking from a long coma. _If he recognized me, I'd probably already be dead,_ she reasoned, and that suited her perfectly fine. _After all, I can't see who he is if I'm dead._

"She...uh….refuses to wear clothes," Ocelot spoke up, seemingly uncomfortable. Quiet mentally facepalmed. _Really,_ she thought, practically glaring daggers at the man. _That's the first thing that comes to mind? Could you make it any more awkward?_

"The last staff member who tried to dress her?" the cowboy continued, tapping his throat, "He's breathing through tubes." Quiet scoffed mentally at the exaggeration, opting instead to move over to stand in front of Big Boss. She trailed her hand along the railings, feeling the thrumming vibration of the metal before she wrapped her arms around the metal bars, relaxing against the cage as she watched Big Boss closely. He seemed to be regarding her intently and she once again had the feeling that he was picking apart her character, bit by bit, to get down to her very core. It unnerved her just as much as it had in the past and she had to call to mind her training to keep from withering under his gaze.

"Other than that, she's been completely cooperative." Ocelot paced over to her, gesturing vaguely. "She understands English, but she never speaks, sweats, or breathes."

"What?" Big Boss seemed shocked and Quiet felt a small spike of satisfaction at the thought that she had confounded the legendary soldier. _All your years of experience and you haven't met someone like me,_ she thought to herself smugly.

Ocelot stayed quiet a little longer, letting the cliffhanger float in the air as Big Boss absorbed the new piece of information, before finally continuing. "Well, not with lungs at least. She breathes through her skin." He glanced back at the soldier. "Clothing would suffocate her." Ocelot walked past her and he nodded discreetly towards the shower.

Quiet turned, stepping towards the shower. Something felt funny to her about showering in front of two men who were intently staring, but she pushed the thought aside, focusing instead on feeling the water refreshingly cool against her skin. "Showers are okay," she heard the cowboy say behind her, "but she can't be submerged." She smirked to herself, a devious thought coming to mind, and she allowed her parasites to drink the cool liquid. _Bet you've never seen this before._

"What's wrong with her?" Big Boss sounded puzzled, almost completely lost from behind her, and she added another point to her tally of times he had been taken by surprise. "She's drinking," Ocelot said, "through her skin." Quiet slowly turned the water off, kneeling down to push waves through the water as it drained slowly through the floor of the cell. "She's okay?" The worry and concern in Big Boss' voice took her by surprise, giving her a slight pause as she played with the water. _He's still worried about me?_ "She's okay," Ocelot confirmed. "She just can't move when she's taking in water."

The rest of the water drained away and Quiet slowly pushed herself to her feet, shaking herself off gently as she went back to her bed. She slowly laid down on her back, stretching slowly. The sun shined down on the cell and she rolled over, letting the sunlight hit her back as she took in the nutrients. Vaguely, she could hear Big Boss and Ocelot discussing her nutritional habits, with the legendary soldier still mildly taken aback and the cowboy patiently explaining. She caught the word "photosynthesis" and she scoffed to herself. _Great, now he'll think I'm a plant._ She shifted again, getting a little more comfortable.

"Some of the staff...they can't stomach her," Ocelot said, and Quiet knew he would try to push the soldier to take her with him. "It's starting to affect morale." Quiet rolled over, trying to pretend as though she weren't paying attention.

"Can't you send her on a mission?" Big Boss asked, and she could almost see the slight frown creasing his face.

"By herself?" Ocelot scoffed, shaking his head. "No. But as you know, she does have skill." Quiet felt her hopes rising and the cowboy's next words confirmed her suspicions. "Why not take her out on one of your missions? She seems to like you." The last sentence sounded almost unsure, but Quiet knew it was all a ruse designed to convince the soldier further. Ocelot let the suggestion hang a bit in the air before adding more. "Of course, only if you think she'll be useful. Next time you go out, keep her in mind."

Big Boss grunted, staying a few seconds longer to watch her before leaving with Ocelot in tow. Inside, Quiet marveled at how masterfully the cowboy had played to the soldier. _He's got a tongue like a snake,_ she thought to herself, impressed. _No wonder he's their interrogator._ Although Big Boss hadn't spoken much, she could already feel he was considering the suggestion. _And when I get the chance, I'll make sure he picks me._

* * *

It was the fifth time she heard the chopper landing on the platform. It would be the fifth time Big Boss had decided not to allow her to accompany him on a mission. Quiet gave an annoyed huff, making up her mind. _If he won't come to me, then I'll go to him._ She stood up, pulling on her combat boots and going over to the cell door. The tiny lock still hung pitifully and Quiet ripped it apart with a firm tug. The door squeaked slightly as she opened it, though the noise was masked by the chopper passing by overhead.

Cloaked by her parasites, Quiet made her way up the stairwell. Stone Hedgehog, her usual guard, stood watch and used one arm to shade his eyes from the sun as he watched Big Boss' chopper pass by, heading for the Command Platform's landing pad. Quiet felt guilty as she quickly slipped away, knowing her friendly guard would be horrified to learn that his "prisoner" had slipped away, and she made a silent promise to pay him back if he ended up taking heat for her actions.

For now, though, she pushed the thought out of her mind as she snuck into the armory. Having been through training exercises with Ocelot, she knew exactly where all of her equipment was stashed. It only took her half a minute to slip on her utility belt, pistol, and combat knife, before grabbing her modified RENOV-ICKX sniper rifle and a belt-full of magazines.

Darting out of the armory, Quiet ran full-tilt towards the Command Platform landing pad, arriving just in time to see Big Boss and Miller walking up to the landing chopper. She came to a stop at the chopper's side, landing in a crouch before rising up and leaning against the side of the chopper to wait for them. She made sure to stay silent to avoid detection from the nearby Diamond Dog soldiers and Ocelot, though, knowing that detection would only mean tighter security on her cell. _I'll just slip inside the chopper with Big Boss and nobody will ever know the difference,_ she thought confidently.

"Our weather surveillance indicates turbulence out there," Ocelot said as Big Boss came to a stop beside him. "Try not to get knocked out of the sky." Big Boss replied with an affirmative, but Quiet suddenly realized Miller seemed to be gazing directly at her, frowning thoughtfully. She cursed to herself, crossing her arms and glaring at the crippled soldier. _I don't have time to play your games, Miller._

With a snarl, Miller raised his crutch, slamming it against the side of the chopper with the resounding metal clang resonating despite the rapid thumping of the chopper blades. With a bitter curse and an annoyed glare, Quiet decloaked, fighting to keep herself from ripping the man apart with her bare hands. _You won't let me do anything, will you?_ She uncrossed her arms, suddenly feeling like a berated child. There was an itching in her eyes and she blinked them rapidly, feeling the demoralizing of another failure, head down to hear her punishment

"Quiet?" The voice of Big Boss brought her back to the moment and she raised her head to look at him, a determined pout meeting his questioning gaze. _I won't let Miller stop me._

"Where does she think she's going?" Miller asked. Quiet could practically feel the disgust dripping from his voice. Although his eyes were hidden, she knew they were boiling with barely-contained rage.

"You want to head out with the Boss," Ocelot commented, a slight smirk crossing his face as he nodded in approval. Quiet flicked her eyes to him, then back to Miller as he spoke up again. "That'll be the day," the crippled man retorted. Quiet felt her spirits drop once more and she glanced down and away, trying to come up with some way to convince the group otherwise.

To her surprise, Ocelot stepped forward. Quiet glanced back up at him, almost hopeful. "I don't see a problem with it," the cowboy said, glancing at Big Boss. "As long as she's with you." He looked back at Quiet and she stood a little straighter, watching him. "She's a crack shot...a damn fine scout. Well suited for a clandestine op." He tossed a sideways glance at the legendary soldier. "Which is more than I can say for the others," he finished with near-derision.

"There's nothing "damn fine" about this…..thing," Miller interrupted, thumping his crutch against the platform as he turned back to her. Quiet felt the anger rising up in her again and she clenched her fists, doing her very best to refrain from tossing the crippled man off the platform, tossing him up into the rotating chopper blades, or ripping his limbs off his torso herself right then and there on the platform. _You might want to watch who you're calling a 'thing'._

A flicker of motion brought her attention back to Ocelot as he pulled his pistol out of the holster, spinning it and flipping it around in his hand before finally offering it to her. Quiet took it, eyes narrowing in confusion and suspicion. The weight was comforting in her hand and she had no doubt it was loaded, though she also had no idea why the cowboy had just given her a lethal weapon. _You want me to...shoot him?_ Obviously Miller had the same idea, as he turned to Ocelot to offer an indignant "Hey!".

"Blades," Ocelot said as he glanced up to point at the rotating chopper blades, and Quiet suddenly realized what he was getting at. _Ah._ She looked up, bringing the heavy pistol to bear. It was a six-shooter and she was completely sure she could make all six shots through without damaging the rotors. She placed her finger to the trigger, ready to begin, when Miller suddenly stepped forward and Ocelot had to place an arm on him to restrain him.

"Hey wait a minute, that thing costs a lot of money!" Miller seemed almost panicked and Quiet lowered the pistol, glancing at him. Ocelot gave her a nod and she took that as the go-ahead, giving Miller one last look before bringing the weapon back to bear on the spinning rotors. She glanced at Miller again, who was watching with both fury and anxiety. An idea came to mind and she withdrew one arm, holding it against her chest so that she only held the pistol with one hand. Almost instantly, she felt Miller's anxiety spike and she smirked to herself. _Watch and learn._

Quiet pulled the trigger three times, sending three separate bullets cleanly between the chopper blades. She switched hands, holding her right to her chest and firing three times before letting go of the grip and allowing the pistol to slip out of her grasp, held up only by her finger in the trigger guard. She offered it back the cowboy, who slid it back into the holster. Ocelot glanced over at Miller, who merely shook his head in disgust and refused to look up. Quiet allowed herself a small, proud smirk, placing her hands on her hips. _You were saying?_

"She can see each individual blade," Ocelot emphasized with a nod of approval. "And her depth perception…" He made a gesture of grudging respect. Big Boss himself stepped towards her, expression as unreadable as ever. "You want in?" he asked gruffly.

"This is ridiculous!" Miller cut in, stepping between her and Big Boss. "She doesn't talk! How could you possibly stay in communication?" Quiet made a small noise of frustration, eyes flicking to Big Boss before looking down in defeat. _He's got me there…_

"Right," Big Boss said, watching her, and Quiet knew she had lost again. "I like working solo anyway." She turned away, refusing to look at him as she began the long, lonely walk back to her cell. _It was worth a try, I guess._ The chopper took off and she made one look back, watching the soldier departing on another mission without her. She could sense he was still watching her even as the chopper flew away, and she wondered if perhaps he might have been convinced. _I guess time will tell._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we wait for the action to begin.


	6. Taking to the Field

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With her successful audition, Quiet makes it onto the roster for her first field test...

**Mother Base, Seychelles Waters  
** **Medical Platform**

"Don't worry about it," Ocelot told her quietly, and she had to drag her attention away from the sight before her once again. Miller had engaged Big Boss in a discussion and from what she could see, it was not going well in her favor. With grand gestures, a raised voice, and an angry scowl, Miller was clearly agitated and she knew that didn't bode well for her.

_Though he already made that point clear the last time I tried to hitch a ride with the Boss_ , Quiet mused, absentmindedly fixing the strap on her sniper rifle so it hung more comfortably over her shoulder. _It's not a surprise._ They had been discussing for the past few minutes, ever since she had been brought onto the landing pad to accompany the legendary soldier to see her first field action.

"The Boss will get you out there, don't worry." Ocelot seemed calm, but Quiet could see him hiding his anxiety with the way he brushed over the grip of his pistol unconsciously. She hummed a note of muted acceptance, knowing Big Boss would be her only shot at getting past Miller. _Who knew there could be so much politics involved in a mercenary operation,_ she mused, making a slight noise of disgust. She could tell Ocelot felt the same way, though she also knew he needed to disguise it more as a person of leadership.

At last, Big Boss and Miller broke apart. From the way Miller was scowling, Quiet could tell who had been the victor of the argument, and she felt a small triumphant thrill. He had moved off to the side by himself, muttering under his breath while glaring at her. She paid him no attention, though, as Big Boss motioned for her to board the chopper.

Quiet made her way over to him quickly, climbing in and taking a seat on the portside of the chopper. Big Boss closed the door behind her as the chopper took off, settling into his usual seat in the back. He always seemed to sit there, she noticed. _Smart,_ she thought. _It puts me between the pilot and himself, so I would need to neutralize both of them in quick succession._ It was a veteran kind of thinking and was exactly what she would have done herself. It put her at ease, knowing she was going into the field with someone who knew what he was doing. _Not that I expected him to be stupid_ , she mused.

"You can put your rifle over there," Big Boss said gruffly as he pointed to an empty rack on the starboard side, across from her. She nodded slightly, getting up to store her weapon securely. A thought came to mind and she turned to give Big Boss a questioning look. _Pistol too?_ She tapped the grip of her pistol. He shook his head and she gave a small nod again, sitting back in her seat and staring straight ahead. Big Boss was not a man of many words and it unnerved her slightly with the way he held himself.

They sat in a tense silence, with her occasionally sneaking glances in his direction. Big Boss didn't seem to notice, though, as he was busy staring into his holographic device and muttering various observations. _I wonder if he'll clue me in on what exactly we're doing,_ she thought curiously, before shaking the idea off. _My only job is to listen and wait for commands._ It was a mindset that had been drilled into her in the XOF and it was natural to her to simply wait for instructions and follow orders.

"I want you to be able to think for yourself out in the field," Big Boss spoke up suddenly, and Quiet turned to look at him, trying desperately to hide the shock she felt. _You WHAT?_ Her mind raced, going through all the possibilities of what the soldier was trying to accomplish by giving her freedom. _You want a possibly-hostile sniper to think for herself?_ She refused to believe such a veteran soldier could have skimmed over the fact that she could put three bullets into his back and disappear, literally, into thin air. _Though that still banks on me being hostile,_ she corrected herself, finding herself taken aback by her own thoughts. _Just weeks ago, I would give anything to kill Big Boss. Now I'm hesitant about shooting him with his back turned to me, 100 meters away. Strange world._

"In the field, you'll have my back," the soldier continued, seemingly not noticing her surprise. "I'll have yours. I'll trust you to keep me alive and you'll trust me to keep you alive. That's the way this works." Quiet nodded, the idea slowly growing on her. _At least he trusts me more than Miller does,_ she thought. _Otherwise this would go nowhere._

Big Boss leaned forward in his seat, bringing up a map on his holographic device and motioning for her to scoot closer. "You have good range on that rifle," he said, looking up to meet her eyes. "Good, steady hands too. I saw it in action myself." She held the gaze steadily. _When I tried to blow your head off,_ she thought sheepishly. She wondered for a second if he still held a grudge against her. "I expect to see that demonstrated out there," he continued, and Quiet nodded. _Of course._

He moved through the map, settling on Wakh Sind Barracks in Northern Kabul, Afghanistan as an example. "I'll need you to find vantage points where you can cover me as I move around," he said, scouring the area around the location and adding map markers to good sniping locations as examples. Quiet watched carefully, making sure each location was a feasible location. True to his status, each one worked perfectly as a sniping point. She noticed he was only picking the easiest ones and she held up a hand to stop him, reaching forward and adding in locations that she knew she could easily handle.

"Impressive," Big Boss commented gruffly. Quiet nodded, feeling a little tingle of satisfaction. _Should make life easier for both of us._ "Opens up more opportunities," he said, then leaned over to the side, reaching into an open duffel bag and pulling out another of the electronic device he used.

"This is called an iDroid," he said, offering it to her. She felt her excitement rise as she took it into her hands, activating it to see a holographic display menu. "It has all sorts of uses," Big Boss continued, pointing at various menu options. "The maps, markers, notes, mission objectives, pictures, a camera, and more. Hell, you can even put music on here." Quiet snapped back to look at him, eyes wide and body pumping with joy. _Did someone say music?_

If the soldier was amused, he didn't outwardly show it, though Quiet was much too occupied with thinking about how to transfer all of her music to the device than observing his reactions. She glanced back down quickly at the iDroid, navigating through the music portion of the device. _I need "Maneater" on here first...and then that new one, "Take On Me"..._

"Quiet." Quiet looked up sheepishly at the soldier, who was holding an earpiece out for her to take. _Sorry. You know how I get around music. You were saying?_ She took the earpiece, examining it before putting it in one ear. Big Boss watched her for a few more seconds and she held his gaze, refusing to back down. _Not going to be intimidated again,_ she told herself. "That earpiece connects with the iDroid," he said, pointing out how to link the two devices. "That will be our main method of communication." He gave her a thoughtful look. "You don't talk, so we'll need to find something else."

"Mmmm," she agreed, nodding thoughtfully. "That'll work," Big Boss said, and she looked back up at him in confusion. _What?_

"Your humming," he replied. "Just do that into the mic so I can hear you, and that can be our form of communication." _Perfect._ Quiet hummed again, this time in content, and the soldier gave a small nod. _Establish communication? Check._ She felt a little thrill of a connection to him, which caught her off guard. _I haven't even been out in the field with him and I already feel more of a connection to him than I did with anyone in XOF...and I can't even talk to him verbally._ He didn't seem to mind the lack of words, though, and she perceived it as contentment with her hummed responses.

"There are going to be times when I need you to cover me," Big Boss continued, sitting back and relaxing. "If someone sees me and is about to raise the alarm, give me a few seconds to react. If I'm not able to handle it myself, go ahead and stop them. I'll also need you to take out soldiers on command, if you have the shot." She nodded, soaking in the information, and watched as he glanced at her sniper rifle. "I usually run my operations quiety and without bloodshed," he said, a slight frown creasing his face. "I'd prefer that you not kill anyone." Quiet stared quizzically, slightly surprised. _You mean the legendary Big Boss...doesn't like to kill?_

Big Boss took notice of her questioning glance and continued. "I either put them to sleep or knock them unconscious," he explained. "Usually I use a fulton extraction device to send them back to base, where we train and employ them in our little army." Quiet listened thoughtfully. _That's...interesting. You just take people? Isn't that kind of kidnapping…?_

"We also take equipment and supplies too," Big Boss carried on, then seemed to get a little embarrassed. "And...we take animals sometimes too." Quiet had to fight to keep from letting a laugh escape her. _Animals? So you grab a sheep, attach a balloon, and then up-up-and-away? Ha! That's a classic!_ She imagined the grizzled veteran tenderly cuddling a fluffy sheep and the image threatened to break her reserved demeanor as she fought to keep from uncharacteristically giggling out loud.

"We have a deal with an environmental NGO to rescue animals from the war zones," he explained a little hastily, as if trying to keep her from judging his animal comment. _Too late,_ she thought, chuckling to herself as she nodded in agreement for him to continue on with his expectations of her field behavior. He gave a small glare but she ignored it, still amused. _Big Boss has animal-cuddling tendencies,_ she joked to herself

"With your ability to cloak and move fast, you might actually be useful for scouting as well," Big Boss said thoughtfully. Quiet nodded in agreement. _That's certainly easy for me now._ She lifted up the iDroid again, tapping it. _I can mark them on here for you._ "Good thinking," he replied, nodding. Quiet gave a small smile, nodding back. _This might actually work,_ she thought as she watched him settle back into his seat. It seemed the conversation was over just as abruptly as it started, though she didn't mind. She almost expected the soldier to avoid continued conversation. _More of a thinker and see-er than a talker,_ she commented to herself.

Quiet leaned back into her own seat, glancing down at her utility belt. It was already filled with her various equipment, including grenades, ammunition, her pistol, and her knife, and she sighed mentally as she realized she would need to make room for her new iDroid. _Typical._ If it were anything unimportant, she wouldn't bother with the hassle. _Do it for the music,_ she told herself. Unsurprisingly, she found space for it in minutes.

* * *

"Quiet."

Quiet opened her eyes at the sound of her codename. The outside of the chopper window was dark - it had been almost noon when they left Mother Base, and it was clear that this would be a stealthy night had been resting, mentally preparing herself for her first time back in the field in weeks. It still never failed to make her a little anxious, and she wanted to make sure she could focus in the moment. She glanced over at Big Boss, raising an eyebrow slightly. _Yes?_

"We're here," he said, grabbing his assault rifle from the rack. "We're being dropped near Da Shago Kallai. We received word of a VIP prisoner being held there and we need to get her out before she is executed." He slung the assault rifle over one shoulder, reaching over and grabbing his own sniper rifle. Pulling the bolt back, he loaded a fresh bullet into the chamber before flicking the safety on and slinging it onto his back.

Quiet stood up and grabbed her own rifle from the wall rack. She could feel the chopper descending and it filled her with adrenaline. She checked the scope, making sure it wasn't jostled out of place. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Big Boss watching her and she gave him a small nod. _Ready when you are, Boss._

"Arriving at drop point!" the pilot, Pequod, shouted from the cockpit as he lowered the chopper down to hover a few feet above the ground. "Be careful down there, Boss!" Quiet let Big Boss go out first, watching him drop out and landing heavily on the sandy dune. She followed suit quickly, jumping out of the side of the chopper and landing in a crouch behind the soldier. From behind them, Pequod quickly lifted off, speeding off into the distance to avoid detection from hostiles.

"The VIP we're rescuing is a male in his mid-30's," Big Boss said, standing up and pointing over to a bridge in the distance. He pulled out his iDroid, zooming in on an area just past the bridge. "There's an elevated position here that should work for you," he said as he tapped the respective position on the map. "I'll make my way down through the field. Be in position." She nodded and he gave her one final serious look before he closed up the iDroid, pulling out a pistol and heading off towards the bridge.

Quiet unslung her rifle, bringing it up to bear and peering through the scope at Big Boss as he approached the bridge. She peeked further down, where a small shelter sat. There were two guards there and she pulled out her iDroid to mark them for the soldier. To her surprise, he already had, and she hummed a short note into the mic. _No wonder nobody's taken him out all this time._

Big Boss was still approaching the bridge, so she slung her rifle back over her shoulder, gathering herself and making a big leap off the sand dune, landing into a run as she cloaked herself. With another few leaps and dashes, she ascended the tall rock formation behind the two soldiers in the shelter. She brought her rifle back to bear, centering the head of one of them in her scope. Her laser sight was on so that Big Boss knew who she was aiming at. She could hear muffled whispers of their conversation from her perch and although she understood Russian, they were too far away for her to understand.

She stayed crouched on the rock, making sure to keep her finger off the trigger to avoid accidentally blowing the head off of the soldier she sighted and humming her usual song to keep her aim steady. Big Boss was approaching from the side, across the road. He laid down and she watched as he brought his pistol to bear at the farther one from him, firing once, and then followed through with the closer one as he turned and watched his friend crumple to the ground, only for him to do the same a second later. _Impressive work,_ she thought, nodding slightly. She hadn't seen any splatters of blood and she guessed it was the same tranquilizer pistol she had been taken down with. _That's some strong stuff in there._

Big Boss stood back up into a crouch, drawing near to the soldiers and kicking one of them awake. "Where is the prisoner?" she heard him say on the comm channel. To her surprise, the soldier responded helpfully, giving precise details about where the VIP was being held. _Perks of being respected worldwide, I suppose._ With a swift kick to the head, the Russian was knocked out again, and Big Boss attached fulton balloons to both of the incapacitated soldiers. Again, the thought of him doing the same for sheep crossed her mind and she chuckled slightly to herself. The balloons accelerated upwards, carrying panicked and squirmy cargo off into the night sky. _Wheeeeee!_

"That was the simple part," Big Boss said through the comms, reloading his pistol as he looked off at the main buildings. "The main forces are in there." Quiet acknowledged with a small hum. She had already been checking out the area to figure out the guard schedule. She pulled out the iDroid, tapping to place a marker at one of the side entrances. _I'd say the best bet is to enter through here._ Big Boss nodded. "Good thinking," he said briefly as he started towards the main building, crouching to avoid being seen. "Keep me covered."

Quiet hummed an affirmative, turning her sights to the main buildings and marking guards as she saw them. A sense of calm confidence had seeped back into her system and for the first time since the night at the hospital, she felt like a part of something bigger. It was a small feeling, but she still felt it glowing within her. She allowed herself a small smile, settling in a little more comfortably on her perch. _Maybe this will work out after all._


	7. A Quiet Sentry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A first taste of action goes sideways quickly...

**Da Shago Kallai**   
**Afghanistan**

"Quiet," Big Boss said over the comm channel, and Quiet quickly gave an affirmative hum, switching her aim from the soldier on the ground trying to rush Big Boss' position to the soldier who had peeked out from over the edge of the watchtower to spray the legendary soldier's cover with machine gun fire. Remembering his instructions at the last minute, she shifted her aim slightly to plant the rifle round into the wooden support next to the soldier, right at head height, to send him diving back to his cover and keeping Big Boss safe for at least another few seconds.

_This would be a whole lot easier if you would let me hit them_ , she thought in annoyance, huffing into the mic. "I wish there was an easier way to do this," Big Boss said gruffly. Not for the first time, Quiet wondered if he could hear her thoughts. _He certainly seems to know what I'm always thinking._ The soldier popped up again but Quiet placed another round by his ear, sending splinters of wood flying.

Her mental count of bullets remaining in her magazine reached zero and she reloaded with practiced hands, pulling the slide back, removing the magazine, sliding a new one into place, and chambering a new round all within a few short seconds. She reset her mental count back to five as she recentered her aim on the soldier.

The soldier popped up again and this time, she saw Big Boss peeking out of cover, firing his small tranquilizer pistol and catching the soldier in the forehead. He went limp almost instantly and tumbled down from the watchtower, landing with a heavy thud that sent a cloud of dust floating into the air. _Probably out cold,_ she thought, satisfied.

"Watch the one by the gun emplacement," Quiet heard the legendary soldier warn, but she had already moved her aim back to him, sending a shot into the ground by his foot. It made him jump and Big Boss finished him off with two tranq rounds to the chest, dropping him almost lifelessly to the ground.

"Good work," Big Boss said briefly. There were no more soldiers she could see in the area. Each one lay on the ground in various positions. Quiet allowed herself a satisfied nod. It had been difficult but all of the soldiers were merely asleep. None of them had been touched by her sniper rounds. "We're going to need to figure something out after tonight," the grizzled veteran continued, and she watched as he carefully made his way into the compound where the VIP was supposedly held. She kept a vigil watch over the surrounding area as he entered the building. Though it appeared there were no more soldiers to bother them, she knew they were still in enemy territory and an attack could come from any direction. As it turned out, that direction was above.

"Prisoner located," Big Boss said, at the same moment Quiet noticed one of the guards waking from his slumber on the second story. She hummed a warning, bringing her rifle to bear. The soldier looked around in alarm, taking in the sights of all of his companions unconscious across the compound. "I don't have a shot," she heard Big Boss say briefly. She could see him with the VIP slung over one shoulder and she knew he wouldn't be able to help her.

The guard ran down the stairs, directly towards one of the other unconscious soldiers. "Hold your fire," she heard on the comms, and she hummed an annoyed response. _He's going to wake the whole compound,_ she wanted to shout. She caught Big Boss' eye as he silently exited through the door, and he shook his head slightly. The message was clear. _No killing._ The other soldier woke from his slumber, looking around in disbelief.

"Quiet," Big Boss said, and she turned her attention back to him. "I'm going to try to sneak around the back. Do you have a better position?" Quiet reached into her belt, pulling out her iDroid and activating the map. There was a suitable location on the other side of the compound that had a good view of the area and she hummed an affirmative, resecuring the iDroid to her belt and slinging her sniper rifle over one shoulder as she bounded off her rocky perch, cloaking as she did.

She landed with a soft thud and a puff of dust, then immediately bounded across the dusty ground. As she reached the new sniping point, she gathered her legs underneath her, pushing off and leaping into position. Quickly, she unslung the sniper rifle, taking stock of the new viewpoint the perch offered her. Satisfied, she hummed a short note, letting her companion know she was in position.

Big Boss peeked from around the corner, making sure there were no guards patrolling. He glanced to her and she gave a nod. _Clear. Move._ The VIP was badly injured, she saw, as Big Boss moved into view, staying close to the wall. The man had been lashed multiple times, with various other injuries covering the rest of his body. She looked at the ground Big Boss planned to traverse, then back at the VIP. She hummed a doubtful note. _I don't think our friend is going to find that very comfortable._ The ground that soldier seemed to want to go through had plenty of low walls for meager protection, but it was rough terrain.

Quiet returned her view back to the area Big Boss was headed into, ensuring there were no enemies waiting ahead. As she did, she spotted three guards, newly awakened, heading towards the back of the compound around the outer wall. By her calculations, they would intercept Big Boss' path, and she hummed a warning now, marking the three incoming guards on the iDroid. The soldier grunted an acknowledgement, depositing the VIP back on the ground and rechecking the number of rounds he had left in the magazine of his tranquilizer pistol.

The guards were closer now, and Quiet took aim on the farther one, awaiting the word from Big Boss. "I'm low on rounds," Big Boss said over the comms, and Quiet frowned. _What now? We kill them?_ The thought didn't excite her. The soldier pondered for a second, then came to a conclusion. "I'll take the two closest to the wall," he said, holstering his pistol. "I need you to disarm the one farthest from the wall, and then hold your fire and I'll take him too."

Quiet hummed her acknowledgement, albeit a little dubiously. She knew the legendary soldier had some of the best weapons skills and tactics in the world, but she had never seen him in hand to hand combat. Taking on multiple enemies was difficult, she knew, and she hoped her doubts would be proven wrong. _Not to mention the fact that my rifle is going to bring everyone this way._ She wondered if the soldier had thought of that, then thought better of it. _He's probably three steps ahead of me._

"And then after they're all down, I'm going to pick him up and run like hell for the bridge," Big Boss said, answering her unspoken question. "If need be, you'll have to slow them down with that rifle of yours." He didn't need to remind her that slowing them down entailed more of the close-placed shots that she had terrorized the soldiers with before. _The utterly useless shots that I hate_.

She grunted in response, settling into a more comfortable position as she watched the three soldiers drawing closer to the corner. Her sights were already set on the one farthest from the wall. He held his rifle in a ready position and Quiet aimed right in the center of his weapon.

"Try not to kill me too while you're at it," Big Boss muttered as the soldiers grew closer. _Relax,_ Quiet replied mentally. _I always hit what I aim for._ Then she adjusted her statement. _Usually._ Just before the soldiers made it to the corner, she fired.

The rifle in the hands of the soldier farthest from the wall quite simply disappeared, wrenched out of his grasp as her rifle round tore through the metal. He cried out in surprise, stumbling backwards and drawing the attention of his companions. Quiet heard further shouting and she knew it was from the other soldiers across the compound that heard her rifle ring out.

Big Boss leapt from his cover and she watched as he easily dispatched the first soldier with a quick one-two to the ribs, then swung him around to slam his head into the building wall. As the second soldier turned back, Big Boss was already on him, flipping him and slamming him into the ground. The third soldier, Quiet noticed, had drawn a dangerous-looking knife from his belt. As she aimed at it, Big Boss knocked the knife out of his hand, twisting his arm until it popped from his shoulder socket with a grisly crack.

Even from her vantage point, Quiet could hear the man's agonized scream, before he too was knocked unconscious. _Quick work,_ she thought, thoroughly impressed. _One might wonder why he even needs weapons._ And then Big Boss was back on the the run, the VIP slung over his shoulder, bouncing uncomfortably with every stride. Already, there were soldiers coming into view from the front of the compound as they pointed at the escaping figure, shouting and bringing their weapons to bear.

_Time to change that,_ Quiet thought, a small smirk forming at the edge of her lips as she racked the slide back to chamber a new round. She sent three bullets flying in quick succession, sending soldiers diving back into the dirt and buying Big Boss more time to dash to the cover of the low walls in the field.

"Quiet, we can't fulton him out," she heard Big Boss mutter over the comms. She glanced at him through the scope as he assessed the VIP's injuries. "He won't survive the fulton. We need to get him out the old-fashioned way." Quiet grunted a reply. _I don't like the sound of that._ But she was too busy to offer a protest as she ducked to avoid a flurry of bullets. She bit back a curse as the dirt and rocks showered down around her. _Great. Now they're shooting at me._

She stole a glance at Big Boss, watching him use the opportunity to make his way further away from the compound. _At least shooting at me means they're not shooting at him._ And then she heard a faint whistling sound coming from above her. Her instincts, razor sharp and alert, told her instantly that it was an incoming mortar, and she wasted no time in cloaking and throwing herself off the edge of the small cliff, stumbling slightly as she landed.

The rocky cliff exploded in pieces of jagged rock and choking, blinding dust and Quiet leapt away from it to avoid the crashing debris from the mortar. She slid to a stop, eyes darting left and right as she took in her surroundings for any remaining threats. There were none to be found, though, and she could hear faint cheering from the soldiers as they celebrated her demise. _Too bad I'm not dead,_ she thought with grim humor, slipping a new magazine into her sniper rifle.

"Quiet?" Big Boss' voice came over the comms and she thought she detected a hint of apprehension and worry in his voice. _Why would he worry about me?_ She hummed once in response, letting him know that she had survived. Though she pushed the thought out of her mind, she knew she would be thinking about it later on. _Assuming we survive._

"I think I see the way out of here," the soldier said, all traces of his previous worry gone from his voice. He was all business again and Quiet was tempted to pass off her previous observation as a fluke, although her strict discipline told her not to ignore anything. She could hear gunfire from where Big Boss was and she knew the soldiers were still pursuing him.

She set off again, dashing through the cloud of dust slowly settling from the explosion. As the air cleared, she could see the soldiers drawing ever closer to Big Boss, pursuing with increased confidence as they believed there was no more sniper threat in the area. Then, in the far distance, she saw Big Boss' observation - across the bridge sat an armored cargo truck, guarded only by two soldiers.

"We'll get to that truck and we can exfiltrate the hot zone before we call in Pequod to transport him back to base," Big Boss said without a trace of doubt. He seemed unperturbed that a garrison of hostiles were closing in on him and Quiet marveled for a moment just how calm he really could be. "Can you get to another sniping point to keep them off me?"

Quiet hummed a quick affirmative. She already had spotted another point, this time on the other side of the soldiers, and she knew they weren't expecting her to still be alive to harass them. She bounded off towards her new perch, clearing the height with one massive leap and uncloaking. The soldiers were gaining on Big Boss as he slowly made his way across the dusty landscape, burdened by the weight of the injured VIP.

With the first shot, the group of soldiers instantly dropped to the ground, completely bewildered by the sniper rifle that rang out from behind them. Peeking out from the cover of the low walls, she watched their heads turning, desperately trying to see where the new sniper was. She fired again, trying to keep their attention distracted from Big Boss. He had taken off running as soon as she fired the first time and was almost across the bridge. For a second, she wondered how the soldier planned to take out both guards, then pushed the thought out of her mind. _He'll figure something out._

As heads hesitantly poked up from behind the low walls again, Quiet fired a third time. This time, she could hear shouting as they pinpointed her new location. Gunfire began to tear at the rock of her perch and she went prone, ducking under the flurry of responding bullets. She cursed mentally as she realized she had no way of seeing if the soldiers had started to close in on her position.

"Quiet, I'm in the truck," Big Boss said, and she could hear the revving of the truck engine in the background of the comms. "Time to exfiltrate. Get out of there." _Gladly,_ she thought, scooting away from the perch. She made her way around the large rock formation, keeping it between her and the gunfire. Quickly, she cloaked and bounded off towards the bridge, taking a quick look behind her. Just as she had thought, the soldiers were still pouring bullets into the perch as they made their way closer and closer.

_They'll be confused when they find no sign of me,_ she thought with satisfaction. _The sniper that leaves no trace and seems to be able to melt away with the wind._ She also knew it was likely they would send out scouting parties through the rest of the week searching for her somewhere in the area. She didn't envy those men. They would be forced out into the rough desert by their commanders, searching for days for an adversary they knew could hit them out of nowhere, yet never have the satisfaction of finding her.

"VIP is in stable condition," Big Boss said over the comms, cutting through her thoughts. "Quiet, I already have our next location. Get to the guardpost down the road. It's labeled on your iDroid. I'll meet you there once Pequod arrives. Until then, scout out the area." She hummed an affirmative, pulling out the iDroid to check.

It was a small guardpost and she doubted there would be anything interesting, but she trusted there was a good reason. _Anything in particular you want me to look for?_ "You should find some heavily armored soldiers there," he added, answering her unspoken question. Quiet hummed again, replacing the iDroid on her belt.

It was still early in the night and she rolled her head around, stretching her neck. She knew they would probably work through the night and return to Mother Base in the morning, but it was better than the past few weeks of being confined to her cell. _Not too bad of a night,_ she thought with some satisfaction, shouldering her sniper rifle to head out to the next objective.

* * *

Quiet settled into her seat in the chopper with a relieved sigh, stretching and feeling the warm feeling of a successful day working its way through her body. Big Boss seemed similarly tired as he tugged the chopper door shut and took his own seat. He had plenty of smears, cuts, and scrapes, not surprising given that they had spent all of the night traversing the dusty Afghan landscape, but he looked clearly better than he had without her watching his back.

_At least, I hope so_ , she corrected herself. She had no idea what he thought of her performance, other than that she desperately needed a non-lethal weapon like he typically used. Quiet moved forwards, to store her sniper rifle on the starboard side rack. As she returned to her seat, she noticed that Big Boss was once again looking into his iDroid, back to muttering to himself and performing various operations. _No wonder he naps often_ , she thought. _He never stops doing anything._

Quiet dug into her belt, pulling out her various magazines and bullets to count how many she needed to replace. It had been a long day of firing and she knew she needed to restock her ammunition supplies before her next outing with the legendary soldier. _Assuming there will be another,_ she though. He still had not commented at all on her, and it made her slightly anxious to wonder what he thought of her.

"Good job today," Big Boss said, breaking the silence. Immediately, Quiet turned to look at him to listen attentively, pausing her counting. "I usually work best alone but…this worked out well." She nodded, keeping herself professional, though she did feel pride swelling inside. "We do need to find a way to outfit you with tranquilizer rounds, but I have a feeling the R&D department will know how to handle that. You'll likely end up having an entire subteam dedicated to you." Quiet stopped abruptly, taken by surprise. _What?_

As if he sensed her shock, Big Boss looked up to meet her surprised expression. "If you're going to go out in the field again, we need to make sure you have everything you need," he explained. "And since you are a special case, it only makes sense for you to have your own team dedicated to developing your equipment." _Huh,_ Quiet replied in mind, unable to think of anything else to say. _Well, uh, thanks. Can't say anyone has ever offered me anything from R &D...or even dedicated an entire team just for me. _She nodded a thanks to him, which he responded to with a grunt before turning back to his holographic map.

Quiet didn't mind his lack of response, though. _Maybe it's a good thing to join a team_ , she thought to herself, feeling more a part of something bigger than herself than ever before. She almost felt as if she had started her first day on her dream job and it nearly had her giddy, something that she knew a veteran soldier shouldn't feel. She couldn't remember the last time she felt giddy. _Probably back as a teenager_ , she mused.

She finished her inventory, replacing everything onto her belt, and sighed mentally. Already she could feel the sleepy calm of success. _A soldier takes all the sleep she can get,_ she reminded herself, the thought seeming ever increasingly comforting. She moved around in her seat before finally settling into a comfortable position. As her eyes closed, the last thing she saw before she drifted off was Big Boss.


	8. A Quiet Arsenal, A Quiet Nap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick visit to the R&D building, and maybe even a new furry friend?

**Mother Base, Seychelles Waters**   
**R &D Platform**

Quiet gave a small nod of appreciation to Stone Hedgehog and he nodded back, moving aside to allow her to enter the door of the R&D building. Unlike many of the other Diamond Dog soldiers, he treated her as just another person rather than a freak or a prisoner, and she enjoyed the feeling of camaraderie with him. He was the main guard stationed at the entrance of her cell and had put a stop to the other soldiers harassing her ever since Ocelot had assigned him to the position. He also functioned as her chaperone, bringing her to the various platforms on the base. All things considered, he was courteous and respectful and she appreciated his manner.

It had been over a week since her first sortie with Big Boss, after which he had set aside a R&D development team for her equipment. The team had been working overtime to develop weapons and gadgets for her and today was scheduled as the reveal date for their work. Since then she had been forced to use the same strategies as she had in her first time back in the field - aiming shots just close enough to make them duck. Despite their best efforts to avoid casualties, there were times when it became unavoidable. It had been a difficult week, but she also knew Big Boss had begun to respect her more, trusting her to take more difficult shots and allowing her to cover him while devoted his full attention elsewhere.

"Welcome to our little operation!" Her blonde medic, Golden Badger, came up to greet her as she came through the door. All around the room, uniformed Diamond Dog soldiers hastily settled their various gadgets and weapons onto nearby desks for display, before standing at attention for her. Quiet felt a rush of excitement and pride as she surveyed the group. _My team,_ she thought to herself in wonder. _A team dedicated to anything I might ever need. Better than anything I've ever had, even in XOF._ She noticed the soldiers watching her expectantly and she gave a small nod of approval, trying to ease the tension she perceived them to be suffering from. Her suspicions proved correct as some of the soldiers visibly relaxed a bit more.

Golden Badger led her to one of the Diamond Dogs, who extended a hand out to her hesitantly. "This is Biting Fox," she introduced. "He's the lead developer here and he'll be overseeing your entire development team. I'm just the one making sure that each item fits your abilities and limitations, but we figured you would like a familiar face here to greet you for the first time." She moved off to the side and Quiet shook Biting Fox's hand firmly, giving him a small nod. He seemed overly nervous standing so close by her but he quickly moved over to the nearest table to begin the demonstrations.

Sitting on the table was a smaller version of the iDroid she had received from Big Boss and, at Biting Fox's behest, she picked it up. Instantly, it felt like it fit more in her hand than the larger size. "Since Boss has given you an iDroid, we thought you might appreciate a smaller size to carry so that you aren't as hampered by the size and weight when you're on the move or laying down," he said. She nodded her approval, taking the new holster for it and attaching it to her belt. _How kind of you to think of my comfort,_ she thought _._ She slid the iDroid in and locked it into place before looking back at Biting Fox. "We...uh...also upgraded the storage to hold more music for you," he said, throwing a quick uncertain glance behind her. "We were told you might appreciate that." Quiet favored him with a small smile, trying to make him more comfortable. _Perfect!_ She glanced behind her, where Stone Hedgehog was standing by the door, and gave him a small nod of appreciation. _Thanks for the notice._

Biting Fox nodded to himself, almost as though reassuring himself that she wasn't about to rip his limbs from him. _Though it is very much physically possible,_ she mused to herself as they moved on to the next table. She knew making that particular comment would only serve to delay the showcase and increase Fox's nervousness, however, so she opted to remain silent. _Not that it's my only reason._ This table held an assortment of grenades and other miscellaneous items that she was used to carrying with her into the field. "We've got your various grenades here," he said, pointing to each one in quick succession. "Frags, flares, smokes, stuns, sleeps, incendiaries. Anything you'll ever need out in the field." One caught her eye that Fox didn't mention, and she pointed at it. _How about that one?_

He glanced at the item in question and had to suppress a small laugh. "Oh that one? That's a bait bottle," he explained. "For...uh...animals." _Like sheep,_ Quiet thought. "For example...sheep," Fox said. Quiet gave a short snuffle of laughter. _More and more proof accumulates that Big Boss cuddles sheep._ He gave her a look of confusion but she waved him on, still chuckling mentally about the legendary soldier and his secret sheep-cuddling tendencies.

They moved on to the next table, where she could finally see firearms. _Here's where the fun begins,_ she proclaimed, impatiently peering at the weapons on the table. Biting Fox pulled a handgun out of the holster. "This right here is the Arms Material Delta-114," he said, pulling out the magazine and handing it to her. "With .45 caliber ammunition, this guy will punch a hole through a hostile at minimal range. Solid. Dependable. Deadly. The perfect sidearm for a sniper like you who might get into some close-range engagements here and there." He offered her the unloaded pistol and she took it, marveling at the low weight of it. "Go ahead and try it out," he said, gesturing towards the small target range further down the lab.

Quiet moved over to the barrier and glanced at the targets in the distance. She glanced back at the gathered team standing behind her watching expectantly, then turned back to the targets. With a click, she slid the magazine home, then racked back the slide to chamber a round. Raising the pistol, she fired twice, hitting center mass of the closest target, then switched to a single-hand grip with her right hand, and fired twice more at the next one. Both hit center mass again, and she switched to her left hand and fired at the next target, barely pausing to aim and emptying the magazine. The slide locked back and she lowered the pistol, nodding to herself as she appreciated the comforting, almost-familiar weight of the pistol. _I like it,_ she said in her head as she returned to the group, pulling the magazine from the pistol and racking the slide multiple times to ensure the pistol was clear. _What's next?_

It took a second for Biting Fox to close his gaping mouth and rearrange his facial expression back from one of utter shock, but he quickly picked up the next weapon on the table. "Over here we've got your very impressively modified RENOV-ICKVX. Five-round magazine. Bolt-action. This was your original configuration, chambered for the classic 7.62mm sniper rounds." He put that one down and picked up another one. "But this one, modified exactly the same, fires our tranquilizer rounds. Keep in mind these won't penetrate quite as much as a bullet, so we recommend a headshot for instant knock, or multiple body shots. Helmets might pose a bit of an issue, but if you can knock it off, then you should be perfectly fine."

Quiet took the offered rifle, feeling the smoothness of the chassis. It felt almost too new to her, although it had been modified exactly to her specifications. _Nothing a little sand and dirt won't fix,_ she thought. She slid a magazine in, sliding the bolt back to put a new dart into the chamber. _Just like home, though._ In a smooth motion, she aimed at a far target and fired, sending the tranquilizer dart straight through, embedded in the head of the target practice dummy. Smirking inside, she gave the rifle back to Biting Fox. _I have to hand it to you...you do some good stuff._

"Unfortunately I'm afraid that's all we have for you for now," Fox said, putting down the rifle and wringing his hands. "We're still working on giving you breathable fatigues so unfortunately you'll need to continue as you are…" _Ah so that's why he's nervous._ Quiet gave a small smile and nod, making sure the soldier knew it wasn't an issue. Biting Fox responded with a smile himself. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call on us, ma'am. We'll continue to work on developing more resources for your use in the field." He turned back to the rest of the team, and they all saluted her before dispersing back to their various duties tinkering and designing.

Stone Hedgehog opened the door for her and she walked out of the grayscale R&D building and into the clear, sunny day that basked the platforms of Mother Base in warmth and cool breezes. She couldn't help with stretch in the sunlight as Hedgehog fell in behind her, strolling leisurely. _A nice day for a shower,_ she thought as she imagined standing under the cool spray in her cell. _A new arsenal, a dedicated team, and a sunny day. Nothing could make it any bett—is that a dog?_

Quiet stopped in her tracks, staring at the large furry animal lying directly in front of the entrance to her cell. She peered at it, taking in the gray, shaggy coat. _Or a wolf?_ Hedgehog stopped beside her, chuckling. "Ah yes, meet the most fearsome field operative on in Mother Base, next to The Boss of course," he said with a grand gesture. "The Boss took him in as a pup and trained him to be the ultimate attack dog. We call him 'DD'."

' _DD', huh? Not a such a little pup anymore._ The big dog stood up and approached her slowly and she bent down to meet it. _Hi there,_ she said mentally as she squatted down and let DD sniff her before she gently ran her fingers through his fur. _Good boy._ DD leaned in closer, rubbing against her. _Aww look at you! You've got your own little eyepatch. Just like your human counterpart._

"I think he likes you," Hedgehog said, chuckling. "Took us a while to even get DD to come near us. Especially that one guy who wanted to touch his paw pads…" Quiet gave a weird look. _Paw pads?_ Hedgehog shrugged. "That's what we told him, too." DD butted against her again, and she resumed her petting. _I guess Big Boss left you behind, huh? That's alright, you can stay with me for a while._ She stood and flashed Hedgehog a thumbs up and he stood at attention as she headed down the stairs to her cell, DD padding along behind her.

* * *

Quiet hummed gently with the soft music playing from her boombox. She had turned the volume far down and played the most relaxing music she could find in her collection. From above her, she heard booted feet clanking on the platform, followed by a soft "Sir!" and ruffling of clothing as Stone Hedgehog stood at attention. The booted feet continued and met metal as the owner began to descend the stairs down to her cell.

She glanced up, watching the spurs on the boots coming down the stairs. _Ocelot._ The cowboy seemed worried as he thumped his way heavily down the stairs slowly. "Have you seen a big, grey—oh." Quiet raised a finger to her lips, silently shushing him. _Careful, he's sleeping._ DD chose that moment to snuggle deeper into her lap, still fast asleep. _He's had a long day._ Ocelot glanced around her cell, noticing the scattered dog toys laying around.

"Well uh...I guess you have things handled here," he said, voiced lowered and the worry gone from his face. "Thanks Quiet." She nodded back at him and he turned to go back the way he came, making sure to place his feet a little more gently on the metal stairs. With a yawn, she settled back against the wall and closed her eyes, still gently running her fingers through DD's soft fur. _Everyone needs a little rest and relaxation. Even an attack dog._


	9. A Quiet Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story turns darker as war crimes are revealed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a longer chapter but was one of the more fun ones to write. I won't be doing all of the missions but I'll certainly be doing the ones that I think I can make interesting, such as this one.

**Angola-Zaire border region**   
**Central Africa**

"Quiet."

Quiet woke to the gently jostling motion of the chopper in flight. She glanced at the legendary soldier sitting at the far end, then out the window at the scenery beyond. They were no longer over the ocean, but she frowned slightly in confusion when she didn't see the familiar sand dunes of Afghanistan. _Where are we?_

She raised herself to a sitting position, rolling her head to ease out her neck muscles and raising her arms over her head to stretch and drive the sleepiness from her system. Big Boss waited patiently, extending an earbud in her direction with a map displayed on his iDroid. "Briefing is about to start," he said shortly, and she scooted closer to accept the earbud.

"Came from Intel. The target is Angola's Mfinda oilfield, upstream from the landing point." Quiet frowned at Ocelot's voice, throwing a quick glance at Big Boss, then out the window again. _Angola? We're in Africa?_ He gave what she perceived to be the equivalent of a shrug, so she turned her attention back to the briefing.

"A spill has covered the whole area in crude. A pipeline that crosses the Munene River failed, now the shore's a mess. Not to mention the villages downstream have no drinking water. The oil runs to the pipeline from that facility. Taking it out should end the leak." Quiet peered out at the landscape passing by, varying from dense foliage to mountains to water, then back again. _Seems like a more cheery place than Afghanistan_ , she commented, then reached back to check her water canteen. _Good thing I brought my own water. I'll pass on the oil bath._

"The client this time is an environmental NGO. Destroy the facility. Stop that may seem like straight-up philanthropy, but there's another reason we agreed to it. The Mfinda oilfield was outdated, abandoned. Then the rebel group UNITA moved in, taking it upon themselves to kickstart operations." Big Boss got up, moving over to the chopper window and heaving the portside door open. As he clipped himself in, she squeezed past him to lean out of the chopper, holding on with just one hand. He began his routine weapon checks, ensuring a round was already loaded into the chamber of each of his weapons, and she shifted her attention back to the passing scenery.

"UNITA's been rapidly modernizing its arsenal. Rumor has it someone's been selling them U.S. military hardware. Intel's analysis suggests the broker's a front company...Cipher's." She frowned. _What would Cipher want in Africa?_ "Keeping tabs on UNITA could tell us who's pulling its strings." _Not to mention doing some good for the environment. I'm good with this._

Big Boss nudged her and she leaned down, peering at the map on the iDroid. "We're going to be dropped here, at the edge of the forest," he said as he tapped the corresponding area of the map. "We'll need to go through Masa Village first, then we can proceed to the facility. Intel says the village has been abandoned but still has countless hostiles patrolling the area. Get used to the terrain here - it's much different than what we're used to." Quiet paused and stole a quick glance of surprise at the soldier, noticing that he worse the same expression, though his was kept just as hidden. ' _We', huh?_ The word evoked a feeling in her and she had to fight to keep it from appearing on her face. It was a feeling she was unfamiliar with and could not place, but she knew it would only serve to distract her from the mission at hand.

They spent the rest of the short flight in a comfortable silence and she closed her eyes as she enjoyed the breeze and attempted to clear her mind of any more distractions. She opened her eyes as the chopper began to slow and descend, heading towards the edge of the forest she figured to be just beyond the edge of Masa Village. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Big Boss watching her carefully, and she gave him a short nod. _I'm ready._ He didn't nod back but she knew her message was received. As the chopper came to a halt, they both dropped onto the ground.

The muddy ground sank slightly from their weight and they both glanced down at the new and unfamiliar surface before sharing a glance as Ocelot sent one last transmission. "That's step one to tracking down Skull Face - and Cipher with luck Boss."

Big Boss caught her eye and inclined his head towards the forest ahead. She swung her rifle down from her shoulder, pulling the bolt and loading a round into the chamber. As they walked, she checked all along her belt, making sure everything she needed was in place and easily accessible.

Ocelot's voice spoke through the comms. "First make your way to the oil facility. It's to the north, past Bwala ya Masa. The village is currently occupied by UNITA. The war industry we started has taken a pretty crooked course these past nine years. With no other options, soldiers have become dogs of war sent to conflict zones as 'private forces', or PFs. Guys we fought alongside are dying all around the globe for no reason - no banner. But that's how they survive. The demand for PF's here in Africa is especially high. Cold War standoffs, resource exploitation, tribal clashes..." He made a sound of disgust and Quiet could imagine the cowboy shaking his head sadly. _Without XOF or Big Boss, that's the life I would be living,_ Quiet thought. _Someone with my skills, my abilities, doesn't just settle down for a nice house with a white picket fence._

"Quiet, see if you can find a sniper perch somewhere on that mountain," Big Boss said, turning for a more direct route towards the village. She nodded and shouldered her rifle. Spotting what looked to be a suitable spot, she gathered her legs beneath her and launched, cloaking and sprinting up the shallow side of the mountain before leaping the rest of the way to a location near the top. The perch was exactly what she needed and she settled in, pulling her sniper rifle into position and scanning the area through her scope. _Not as much occupied as it is swarming_ , she thought as she began to take note of each soldier in the iDroid for the legendary soldier as he pulled up to a cliff that gave him visual of the buildings.

"You've arrived at Masa Village," Ocelot said, seemingly recovered from his brief anger. "It's been turned into a supply hub for UNITA. Meaning it'll be stocked with weapons and resources. Should be a thing or two that'll come in handy. Don't be shy. They deserve to be in better hands."

Quiet watched as Big Boss began a slow and careful trek down the mountain into the edge of the village, making sure not to knock down any rocks or step on any branches that might give away his position. "Quiet, the ones by the guard towers." She hummed an affirmative and set her sights on the guard tower slightly away from him, a little behind the closer one. Taking a second to make sure the suppressor was still in place, she lined up and fired, sending the soldier slumping down in a deep sleep.

She cursed mentally as his body began to slip backwards, towards the ladder leading down, then the soldier plummeted to crash down in a heap of limbs. _Oops._ The soldier nearby barely had time to turn and gape before he ended up face-first into the dirt. The guards near the closer guard tower were still blissfully unaware of the action from behind them and Quiet sent the soldier near the ladder to sleep just as Big Boss rushed forwards to incapacitate the other.

"We're going to take as many as we can," he said as he pulled a balloon fulton kit from his belt. "Am I clear?" Quiet did a quick check of the immediate area for anyone who might notice a few balloons stealing away comrades before humming an affirmative. _Good to go._ As the soldier went from body to body, she began to scan the route ahead. There were no soldiers she could see for the next few buildings and she began to circle her aim back to Big Boss until something caught her eye. _What?_

She peered closer and then a rush of anger clogged her chest and threatened to stop her. She hummed forcefully into the mic, bringing her sniper rifle to bear and aiming her green optic laser directly onto the back of the head of one of the soldiers further down in the village. It wasn't the soldier she wanted Big Boss to see, but the -.

"Damn." The soldier's voice cut through the fog of anger threatening to overtake her, interrupting her thought process. "Ocelot, Intel didn't say there were children here."

"Children…?" Ocelot muttered, taken aback for a second, until she sensed he too felt the same rage that consumed her. "Child soldiers," he spat out. "Children there are abducted and trained to be soldiers. They're only taught to fight. Then one day they grow up and teach the next generation the same way. With a gun in his hands, a kid is as dangerous as any adult." He scoffed. "Only they don't know a thing about right and wrong. Boss, do not hurt any child soldiers. If you do, the mission is over." Quiet narrowed her eyes. _And if you harm any of them, I swear, I will not hesitate to shoot you instead._ From what she knew of the legend, she thought he wouldn't dare to, but she knew her judgements had been wrong in the past and didn't mind the backup plan. _Children are the future. Legendary soldier or not, you will not take that away._

"Quiet, we're going to set them free before we move on to the oil facility." Big Boss's voice cut through her anger like a hot knife through butter and she breathed a mental sigh of relief that the soldier did indeed have morals. For a second, she wondered why she had even thought that he would not have, based on the other morals she had seen him demonstrate through their short time together. "We'll need to take out all of the other soldiers, then stop the children from opening fire on us."

_We would always knock them out. Have plenty of tranq rounds._ It didn't take words to know that was exactly what the legendary soldier was planning. "Pequod, we're going to need a pickup with medical support at Masa Village. The balloon fulton is too dangerous for the kids. We'll need the chopper." Pequod radioed back an affirmative and she peered back in the scope as he began to move forwards, creeping closer to the target range where the older soldiers were drilling the children for combat.

It took no more than a few well-placed tranquilizer rounds before the adults were lifted off into balloons and the children gathered by Big Boss, just as the sound of a chopper began to fill the air. "This is Pequod," the pilot said, bringing the chopper down towards an open zone of the village. "Have arrived at LZ." Seeing no more threats, Quiet shouldered her rifle and leaped off the mountain, landing lightly in the mud before approaching the chopper. She picked up one of the sleeping children, gently passing them off to a medic in the chopper.

"Not bad at all," Ocelot said as the chopper lifted off with the children. "You've just made the world a bit of a better place. The children will be cared for." Quiet glanced at Big Boss, nodding her approval. _Yes, thank you. You've saved them from a worse fate._ The soldier grunted. "Was the least we could do," was the only thing he said. He set off again, angling out of the village, and Quiet fell into step behind him, ready to pull up her sniper rifle to fire if there were any more threats to be engaged.

But there was no further contact in the village and they came upon a jeep parked on the side of the road. Big Boss checked his iDroid map briefly, then opened the door to get in. "The oil facility is far north, upriver. Might as well drive instead of walking it." Quiet got into the passenger seat and the soldier set the vehicle into a steady speed. "Ocelot, give us more info on the target."

Ocelot took a second to clear his throat. "Mfinda Oilfield is the property of SANR - South African Natural Resources. SANR drills oil wells wherever they can throughout that region. And when the oil dries up, they abandon the facility. Then it's only a matter of time before the aging equipment starts leaking crude. That means UNITA's takeover is the perfect cover for SANR. Now they can blame the spill on a bunch of 'oil thieves'. However you look at it, SANR's far from squeaky clean."

They continued driving in a comfortable silence. Quiet glanced off to the side at the passing environment, taking in the swamps and trees that were missing from Afghanistan. The wet environment felt good to her skin and she knew the parasites were loving the extra moisture in the air.

_Burning human flesh._ The thought popped suddenly into her mind and she became aware of the awful smell that had slowly become stronger and stronger. She shared a glance with Big Boss and knew he had taken note of it too. They could see trails of smoke rising and he pulled up at the edge of what appeared to once have been a small village.

Quiet swung out of the car, slinging her sniper rifle onto her back and reaching down to draw her sidearm. There was no high enough vantage point from which her sniper rifle would be most effective and she knew if trouble was waiting, they would be hidden in the ruins of the buildings.

The buildings themselves were scorched, but no longer burning. The fires had been put out some time ago. _Probably by the rainstorm that arrived before we touched down,_ she thought. Still, several patches on the ground were still smoldering, while others still had small flames licking at the grass and corpses. Together, they cleared each ruin carefully before returning to the horrifying scene.

"Charred remains," Ocelot commented. "Probably the villagers…" Quiet clenched a gloved fist. _What kind of monsters would do this?_ Big Boss's face was unreadable but she guessed he was feeling the same horror that she was. _If this is what they're doing at Mfinda Oilfield, we need to put an end to it._

Big Boss turned and began a brisk walk back towards the jeep. There was a purpose in his stride that wasn't there minutes before and she knew what it was because she felt the same as she followed close behind him. "Let's go find this oilfield."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to leave you all at a bit of a cliffhanger, but we need to save some for next time, right? And besides that, I needed to take a break because I wrote straight through this. Took a few creative liberties with this one. I don't want to be fully constrained by the limitations of the game engine because after all, this is a piece of writing, and I do think the more-realistic interactions flow a bit better than simply sniping from a distance at all times.


	10. A Quiet Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Death brings back memories...and worse...

**Angola-Zaire border region  
** **Central Africa**

Quiet watched the warm glow of fire as it faded into the distance, leaving only the faint scent of smoke and explosions behind. Usually the sight of a mission well-done left a feeling of pride and success, but her pulse still raced from the events of the operation. It was not just her pulse, though. First, the sight of child soldiers training and performing military drills flashed in her mind and the feeling of disgust rose within her once more. Silently, she cursed the people vile enough to recruit child soldiers again.

_At least I had a childhood,_ she mused, before her thoughts turned bitter. _Not that I remember much of it._ Sometimes in the days of captivity in the cell at Mother Base, brief moments returned to her. A flash of long, beautiful blonde hair. The bark of a dog. The comforting smell of freshly cut grass. Enough to remind her she had once had a life before the elite training as XOF's secret assassin wiped it clean. She closed her eyes, trying to will the thoughts away, feeling a little guilty. _These thoughts are not worthy of a sniper specialist,_ she tried to remind herself. The words rang hollow in her mind.

"Quiet."

The voice, low and apologetic, pulled Quiet from her dark thoughts and she opened her eyes. The orange from the fire was no longer visible on the horizon and she realized she had been sitting at the edge of the chopper for a while. She glanced back at Big Boss, who inclined his head towards the door. _Ah yes._ _The door._ Standing up from her perch, she pulled the side door to the chopper shut, closing them off from the blowing wind as they neared the ocean.

Without the howl of the wind, the cabin of the chopper seemed silent but she didn't mind and she doubted Big Boss did either. _It's not like there's much communicating when one of us can't physically speak._ She unslung her rifle, moving to settle into her usual seat. As was his routine, Big Boss pulled out his iDroid to go through the various tasks of someone in charge of an independent military operation. He had mentioned some of them briefly before to her in passing, such as noting the hassle of assigning soldiers to handle other routine ground operations, collecting intelligence, or ordering supplies from the R&D department. She certainly didn't envy the task. _Soldiers shouldn't have to handle so many of the boring logistics_ , she thought lightly. _Although it would always be nice to be in charge of what's on the menu…_

Knowing he would be busy for a while handling other duties, she settled in to take care of her own equipment. The oilfield had been her first true operation using her rifle modified to fire tranquilizer darts and overall she thought it had performed very well. There were a few new scratches and scars to the chassis of the rifle and though she knew her R&D team leader Biting Fox would be horrified that his creation had numerous battle scars, she liked the overall look. _Matches my old rifle more_ , she thought fondly. She made a mental note to thank Fox and his team the next time she visited their workshop for their work in redesigning her weapon of choice.

Sliding out the current magazine in the rifle before she racked the bolt back to eject the remaining tranquilizer dart in the chamber, she began to count the rounds she had left. The mission had been relatively short and there had been no need to call for more supplies. Getting a count of how much left over she had allowed her to plan and pack accordingly for future missions. _Which would help if I ever needed to carry any other equipment._

An annoyed grunt brought her out of her emotionless stupor. Quiet glanced up from cleaning the RENOV-ICKVX, watching Big Boss for any sign of what might have sparked such a reaction from him. He was still looking at his iDroid and she almost disregarded it before she caught sight of what was on the screen.

_The bodies. He's looking at the bodies._

The image of the bodies flashed in her mind again, and she had to fight to keep her expression neutral as bile rose in her throat. The bodies had been partially decomposed, but it did not bother Quiet, and she doubted her partner was fazed by the sight either. They had seen too many horrors of war to still be sensitive to such images. No, it was something else. The mutations. From the moment she saw the bodies and the damaged lungs, she knew what she was looking at.

* * *

_A white laboratory room. Blood splatters along the walls. The endless screaming, the flailing of limbs, hoarse voices raised in a chorus of horror and pain. One of them ran towards the window and Quiet flinched slightly as he slammed into the glass, moaning and scratching at his throat. He was already covered in blood, but even underneath she could see the furrors he had already dug into his skin, twitching, then slowly sliding down the glass and leaving a streak of blood. And then silence._

_The voices died off to snuffles and low moans, but even those soon disappeared. The lack of noise was deafening. Her throat had gone dry and she couldn't swallow. She couldn't look at the bodies littered in the formerly pristine room, or the man who had rushed the window with a silent plea in his eyes. His last wish had been for an end._

_Quiet looked at the senior laboratory technician who had brought her there to see the room. She thought she knew exactly what he was showing her. And as he looked back at her and smiled, she knew it was true. The man began to proudly boast of their accomplishments but she tuned him out._

_A spark of fear ignited in her chest and she touched her throat, where she knew the scientists had infected her with the same thing. They had told her not to speak English until needed to complete her mission. Skull Face told her it would be to eliminate the threat of Big Boss from the world. She closed her eyes. It would not be long before she would die, just as those in the room had. She just hoped her end would come quicker, and painlessly._

* * *

With a start, Quiet opened her eyes. Her heart raced and she shivered. Though she could no longer feel hot or cold due to the vocal cord parasite within her, the memory sent chills up her back. She swallowed, hard, but it was of no use. Big Boss glanced over at her, his gaze indecipherable, and she realized she had her hand on her throat. She lowered it and gave a short shake of her head in response to his questioning frown. When he looked back at the iDroid, she saw he was still examining the pictures of the bodies and she tore her eyes away, determined not to let any other memories leap unbidden to the forefront of her mind.

She reached down to her belt for her small canteen of water, trying to rid herself of the vile taste in her mouth. She hated the death she knew she had been sentenced to, she hated the conflicting thoughts she had, but more than anything she hated the feeling of being powerless. _There is no cure,_ she mused. _And I don't want to die._ The thought surprised her, though she knew it was not inexplicable. It was the natural desire to be alive that drove all life on the planet. What surprised her was that it had returned to her, after the time she had spent alone musing in the landscape of Afghanistan preparing her final line that would sentence Big Boss to the same death as her.

Quiet glanced at the soldier and felt a flash of gratefulness towards him. _Because of you, I have a purpose again_ , she thought. _I don't just have to be a sacrificial soldier anymore._ She thought back to the child soldiers they had rescued as proof of her statement and she felt a flush of relief wash over her. _I don't just have to be an assassin anymore either. My impact is no longer just killing targets._ With that, the dark and morbid thoughts receded and she finally felt free of the despair that had plagued her for months. She closed her eyes, settling against the side of the chopper. Now that the images were gone, she could catch some rest as they returned to Mother Base.

* * *

**Mother Base, Seychelles Waters  
** **Medical Platform**

"Good job today, Quiet!" Pequod flashed her a thumbs up before he lifted off again, and she gave him a nod, stepping back as the wind thrown by the chopper taking off blew her hair wildly. She readjusted her ponytail as she began the short walk to the cell she called home when she heard snippets of music, followed by muffled shouting. It was coming from her cell, and she frowned as she noticed the absence of her guard, Stone Hedgehog.

Cloaking, she walked down the stairs silently, keeping her hand on her pistol. Though she knew it would be a mistake to shoot one of the soldiers on Mother Base, there was one thing she would not stand for, and that was the destruction of her music collection.

The first thing she noticed as she descended was her music collection sitting to the side, still in neat piles. To her surprise, she saw Hedgehog, Biting Fox, and some others from the R&D department standing at the far end of the space. To her greater surprise, there were now speakers mounted along the sides of the walls.

"No no no, I'm sure it's _this_ wire," Hedgehog was saying, pointing intently. Biting Fox was shaking his head, pointing elsewhere.

"I'm the R&D team leader here, and I'm sure it's _this_ one," the lead developer emphasized.

Quiet suppressed a chuckle. It was clear they had been there a while, and she wondered how long it had taken them just to get the speakers up on the walls. Staying cloaked, she slipped between them and moved the wire that neither of them were holding, which she knew to be the correct one. Both Hedgehog and Fox jumped backwards as the wire seemingly moved on its own, then let out matching yelps as she uncloaked.

With a mischievous smirk, she connected the speaker setup to the receiver, then stepped back victoriously as "Maneater" began to play, sounding better than she ever could have imagined from the upgraded system.

Hedgehog was the first to react, laughing. "Look no further than the music expert to demonstrate how to properly set up a sound system. I think she's one-upped you, Fox."

Fox shook his head. "I have absolutely no idea what she did."

The R&D team began to clear out of her cell, knowing they were intruding, but Quiet stopped Hedgehog and Fox before they started up the stairs. Looking at each of them, she gave a smile and a nod, shaking their hands. Both of their eyes glazed over slightly as she applied just a little too much pressure. _Thank you,_ she said mentally. _I truly appreciate it._ Though she couldn't communicate it verbally, it was clear they both understood her point as they returned her smile before leaving her to her own devices in the cell.

Quiet stretched, moving to turn the music a little louder. It had been a long day and she needed a shower. She felt a flash of excitement as the music track switched. _I bet nobody else has a shower sound system quite like this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, what a chapter this was! I really appreciated that there was not much to Quiet's backstory, because it gives me the creative freedom to add my own thoughts to it. Hopefully you think the hints I put about her past were representative of her character. As with real life, I believe the backstory influences later on, and so I not only want to delve into Quiet's behavior during MGSV, but also how her past has affected that. Her interactions with the R&D team might be a little too happy, but I didn't want to end the chapter with just the bloody laboratory examination room, so why not add a little sunshine? A little happiness never hurt anyone. :)


	11. Fear of Skulls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quiet can't seem to shake the feeling that something is about to go very, very wrong...

**Angola-Zaire Border Region**   
**Central Africa**

A gloved finger tapped on Quiet's shoulder and she opened her eyes, pausing the music playing on her iDroid. It was still dark outside the chopper window but a quick glance at her device showed it was early morning, a few hours before the sun was set to rise. Big Boss returned to his usual spot at the back of the chopper, settling onto the bench and tapping his earpiece. By now, she knew it was the hand signal that a briefing was incoming.

_Good morning to you too,_ she grumbled mentally at him. Unsurprisingly, he didn't reply. _How coincidental,_ she thought, _That you can only read my thoughts when they're actually related to the mission at hand._ Still, she sat a little straighter in anticipation of the briefing. After all she was trained to be an elite soldier, and action appealed to her.

"Boss, your objective is to steal an entire truck from a PF convoy," Ocelot said over comms. "We don't have a fix on the truck we want but the Intel Team has spotted the unit that's been tasked with escorting it. They're stationed at the guard post to the north of Nova Braga Airport, on the savannah." Big Boss made the appropriate marking on the iDroid map and Quiet glanced over the terrain to make note of each possible overwatch position. To her dismay, there wasn't much in terms of raised ground in the area. _The highest ground there is going to be that guardtower, and it's not like I can just climb up the ladder and ask to use it…_

For a few seconds, she entertained thoughts of tapping the shoulder of a poor sentry, giving him a sweet smile as his face lit up in terror, before she forcibly ejected him from his vantage point. The thought was so amusing that she cracked a small smile, filing the idea away for future use before returning her attention to Ocelot's instructions.

"The rendezvous with our target will be any time now. Start by heading to that guard post, then follow the escort unit. They should lead you right to the target truck, which you can then extract from the mission area. Good luck."

Ocelot's voice winked out, and Quiet took the opportunity to lean forward to grab her RENOV-ICKVX from its mount on the side of the chopper. Since the operation at the oil facility, the rifle had seen enough action to give it a lived-in feel with all the scratches and scars accumulated. Although Biting Fox, her lead developer, wasn't quite as happy to see his equipment returned in slightly used shape, it felt more comfortable for her and eventually his exclamations of shock and horror died down to occasional reminders to "try not to add a fifty-seventh scratch to the stock".

Big Boss motioned for her to move closer to go over the map with him and she scooted over so she could have a better view. He had already drawn out a path from the chopper landing zone to the guard post, not that it mattered to her as much since she could easily sprint the distance much faster than he could. Still, it helped to plot out possible ambush sites and locations from which she could provide overwatch.

"Not many vantage points by the guard post," he commented. She nodded along, wondering what the soldier might be getting at. Usually he was a man of few words, so she knew some kind of suggestion might follow, but nothing could have prepared her for what he would say next.

"Switch it up. You grab the intel, I'll take care of the guards."

_What?_ Quiet jerked in surprise, shifting her attention to the legendary soldier and searching for any sign that this was one of his rare jokes. He paid her no attention, still focused on the iDroid's map, and she wondered if he even knew what he had just said. _Just the other day, I was the assassin ordered to remove you from the world in whatever way necessary. Now you're going to trust me to go in alone to secure important intel?_

Yet the more she thought about it, the more his suggestion began to make sense. _Without a good overwatch position, I lose much of my long-range effectiveness. On the other hand, sneaking into an enemy camp before the sunrise is easy with my abilities._ The initial shock having worn off, she nodded in agreement with the plan, focusing back on Big Boss to determine the rest of the game plan and feeling a growing excitement of playing a bigger role in the operation. _This should be interesting._

* * *

Something was off. Quiet couldn't lay a finger on the exact feeling but she knew something was wrong. They had been trailing the convoy for almost two hours, from Nova Braga Airport to its final destination at Kiziba Camp. Big Boss was lying about forty meters away from where the truck stopped, concealed by grass and rocks. She had found herself a good vantage point one hundred fifty meters away on the highest ground that gave her a view of Big Boss, the convoy, and most of the surrounding area. The sun was still an hour away from rising but the sky had brightened considerably, though not enough for the soldiers to be able to notice the soldier eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Need to inspect your cargo," the CFA soldier said to the ZRS truck driver. They both seemed exhausted and irritable, which Quiet supposed was expected of such an early morning shift.

The ZRS driver shook his head and nodded his head back at his truck. "You know the rules. Open that canvas and my client will go berserk." Clearly the conversation wasn't going well for either of the soldiers and she wondered if they would do her and Big Boss a favor and just take each other out.

At last, they came to an agreement and the ZRS driver began to walk, almost smugly, to his truck as the CFA soldier stalked away in disgust. _Our job can't be too easy, I guess._ Big Boss keyed the mic and she responded with a low hum. It was their predetermined signal to begin moving in to take control of the truck. She began to look down her scope to choose her targets when suddenly things went quickly and terribly wrong.

Big Boss had barely moved within thirty meters of the truck when she heard a sudden, muffled curse on the communication channel. Her eyes left her scope, focusing in on four dark figures dropping from an inhuman height from above the covered truck.

The ground shook as they landed and a cold dagger of fear worked its way into Quiet's chest. The four dark figures were unmistakable. _Skull Face's Armor Parasite Unit._

* * *

_A white laboratory room, the same room Quiet had been shown before by the senior laboratory technician. Only this time there was no screaming, no flailing of limbs, no poor test subject begging for the sweet release of death to ease their pain. There were only four dark figures, moaning and rasping as they limped around the small space._

_The last time she had seen the room and the dying men within, she had felt indescribable horror and disgust. Their corpses still littered the floor. But this was different. These four test subjects had somehow survived. The technician was boasting to Skull Face about his "super soldiers". How four surviving men in the room would be the solution to all of the problems XOF faced._

_She turned away from the window, feeling the urge to vomit. The technician was wrong. Those were not men. A cold shiver ran down her back. And she was infected with the same thing._

* * *

Big Boss was in danger. Lying in the grass only thirty meters away, Quiet knew the mindless soldiers would spot the veteran within seconds. Instantly, she rose from her prone position, bringing the rifle up and aiming for the nearest of the monsters. Her hands moved with practiced precision, firing and ejecting spent casings rapidly even as she heard Ocelot exclaiming "It's the Skulls! Watch out, Boss!"

All five of her shots made direct contact, but the tranquilizer rounds seemed to do little to the lead Skull unit. Still, it allowed Big Boss to seek cover behind a concrete barrier and open fire with his assault rifle as the nearest Skull staggered from the impact of her shots. To her shock, even the assault rifle seemed to have little effect against them, and she dimly recalled the technician listing metallic plated skin as one of their physical attributes. _Because of course they're impervious to bullets._

She reloaded her rifle, wishing that she had access to the armor-piercing rounds that her R&D developer Biting Fox had shown her a few days ago. The rounds were still in the early stages of development, and most of her missions only called for tranquilizer rounds, and so that aspect of research had been put on hold. There was no time to continue to muse as two of the Skulls broke off their pursuit of Big Boss, turning towards her. She fired two more shots at the first of them, then cursed as gunfire bit into the ground around her.

_Gunfire?_ Too late, she saw the rifle in the second Skull's hand, then watched as the first seemed to pull a rifle seemingly out of thin air. _How the f-_. She sent three more rounds, each aimed towards the weapons or the limbs holding them, buying her time to move while they had to readjust their aim.

Keying her mic to let Big Boss know she was moving, she rolled to avoid the next salvo, then took off running towards the other edge of the camp. He would have to fend for himself for a bit. She had more pressing issues at hand. A quick glance backwards told her the two Skulls were following close behind. So far, their physical attributes seemed to be on par or better than her own, but she was still surprised when the first appeared just behind her, growling as it swung a dark blade.

Quiet dived left, dropping her rifle and rolling to put more space between herself and the Skull's glowing weapon before coming back to her feet as it pursued. She was ready this time as the Skull brought the blade down to cleave her in two and she sidestepped the swing, wrenching the weapon from its hands and flipping it to drive it deep into the Skull's face. _Chew on that,_ she thought savagely as the monster stumbled backwards, gasping inhumanly in pain while trying to pull the blade out.

There was no time to watch as the second Skull stepped in place of the first with a sweeping cut that would have bit deep into her right side had she not ducked under it. The Skull staggered to her left from the lack of impact and she kicked at its arm with her left leg, spinning it to face away from her as she drew the knife from her belt and dove forward, catching it in the back with three quick strikes before launching a devastating side kick that sent it sprawling in the dirt.

With a start, she realized the first Skull had disappeared from view she instinctively ducked and spun as she felt rather than saw it materialize behind her, trying to take her by surprise. The Skull's sword missed her by inches as the spin took her out of its range, and she brought her right arm around, using the momentum of the spin to launch her knife sidearm into its chest. Even the Skull stumbled backwards from searing impact, she drove on her advantage, drawing her pistol from her belt and unloading the magazine nearly at point-blank range before grabbing hold of the knife and kicking it the Skull off it.

_It's no use_ , she realized desperately as turned back to face the second Skull staggering towards her. _They won't be killed through ordinary means because they regenerate too quickly. All we can do is keep knocking them down until they're temporarily incapacitated._ The first Skull rose again, and the two sword-brandishing monsters advanced on her together side-by-side.

She retreated backwards before them, sliding the pistol back into her belt. There was no time to reload with the Skulls possessing the ability to leap and attack at any moment, and she would rather have a hand free to defend when that happened.

The first attack came from the Skull on her left, swinging mightily, and she dodged backwards to avoid the initial cut before grabbing the Skull's arm and continuing the swing into the torso of the second Skull. It bit in deeply, doubling second Skull over and she quickly grabbed its blade and slammed it into the chest of the first before twisting the blade, hoping to cause enough damage to at least slow the parasites that gave the Skulls such inhuman abilities.

Miraculously, both Skulls staggered weakly, then toppled over into the grass. Quiet breathed a mental sigh of relief as their blood began to seep into the soil. _At last, the parasites need to recover their strength._ She grabbed her RENOV-ICKVX from where it lay on the ground before looking around for where Big Boss was. Gunfire still laced the air so she knew he was still alive, and she spotted him still engaged in combat near the convoy vehicles. It was a sight to behold.

Bodies of possessed CFA and ZRS soldiers lay crumpled around him, incapacitated and out of the fight. One of the Skulls was also down, while the other stalked after Big Boss as he moved from cover to cover, spraying it with bullets. She marveled at the scene, wondering just how he had time to deal with so many other enemies while also facing the threat of the Skulls, but she snapped out of the daze just as quickly. _He's the Boss. No other explanation needed._ Still, he looked exhausted and she had no desire to sit back and watch as the two traded blows.

Stopping only to sling her rifle over her shoulder, she sprinted back towards the convoy vehicles off to the side of Big Boss and the Skull. She grabbed an assault rifle off the ground, dropped by one of the soldiers controlled by the Skulls' parasite mist, and opened fire on the remaining hostile. With the combined fire from two rifles, the final Skull let out a roar before dropping to the ground, finally incapacitated.

Big Boss sent her a weary nod and she returned it, tossing her borrowed weapon to the side and moving to rejoin him. Together, they stood over the body of the Skull, watching in fascination as the parasites slowly undid the damage they had done to the monster. "It's done," Big Boss told Ocelot over the comm.

"You defeated the Skulls," Ocelot said almost breathlessly. "I can't believe you actually took those things out." Big Boss shot her a glance and she knew it was a look of thanks. She returned it with a blink and they shared a moment of quiet after the storm they had just endured.

The soldier bent to try to attach a fulton to the Skull, but quickly jerked backwards as all four of them rose upright, as though pulled by invisible strings in the sky, then vanished into thin air with mighty leaps. He muttered a string of curses, and Quiet got the impression this wasn't the first time the legend had tried to capture one of them for study back at Mother Base.

"Never mind that, Boss," Ocelot said, sounding almost as weary as Big Boss looked. "Just extract the truck and whatever soldiers had any contact with it. With any luck, we'll be able to find out more from them."

It only took a half hour for Pequod to bring in his UTH-66 Blackfoot for their evac, most of which was spent attaching fulton devices to the convoy vehicles and soldiers that were left incapacitated after being freed from the Skulls' control, but the weariness from the battle made it seem like hours and even Quiet felt spent despite her parasites granting her superhuman stamina. The sun was just beginning to rise and it gave her a slight boost of energy as the parasites began to recover a little, and she threw a tired smile at Pequod as he landed. _I could kiss you_ , she joked as she climbed into the chopper first. Big Boss followed her in, closing the door behind him and they both settled into their respective spots. The debriefing session was to be delayed by unspoken agreement, and Quiet closed her eyes as she let the thrum of the helicopter lull her into a deep, restful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap for this chapter! Seeing Quiet pulling off close quarter combat in cutscenes really gave me ideas as to what I could include and expand upon, and so of course I saw this as a great opportunity for her to get her hands dirty rather than hanging back away from the action. Hopefully the battle brought a little excitement. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed my telling of the events! Stay tuned.


End file.
